Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Electrospun Nanofiber Mats Through Controllable Welding at the Cross Points

Overview

Journal Macromol Rapid Commun

Specialties Biochemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2017 Mar 16

PMID 28295875

Citations 23

Authors

Haoxuan Li

Chunlei Zhu

Jiajia Xue

Qinfei Ke

Younan Xia

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This communication describes a simple and effective method for welding electrospun nanofibers at the cross points to enhance the mechanical properties of their nonwoven mats. The welding is achieved by placing a nonwoven mat of the nanofibers in a capped vial with the vapor of a proper solvent. For polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers, the solvent is dichloromethane (DCM). The welding can be managed in a controllable fashion by simply varying the partial pressure of DCM and/or the exposure time. Relative to the pristine nanofiber mat, the mechanical strength of the welded PCL nanofiber mat can be increased by as much as 200%. Meanwhile, such a treatment does not cause any major structural changes, including morphology, fiber diameter, and pore size. This study provides a generic method for improving the mechanical properties of nonwoven nanofiber mats, holding great potential in various applications.

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