Abstract
A modified coaxial electrospinning process was used to prepare composite nanofibrous mats from a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solution with the addition of different cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as the sheath fluid and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution as the core fluid. This study investigated the conductivity of the as-spun solutions that increased significantly with increasing CNCs addition, which favors forming uniform fibers. This study discussed the effect of different CNCs addition on the morphology, thermal behavior, and the multilevel structure of the coaxial electrospun PMMA + CNCs/PAN composite nanofibers. A morphology analysis of the nanofibrous mats clearly demonstrated that the CNCs facilitated the production of the composite nanofibers with a core-shell structure. The diameter of the composite nanofibers decreased and the uniformity increased with increasing CNCs concentrations in the shell fluid. The composite nanofibrous mats had the maximum thermal decomposition temperature that was substantially higher than electrospun pure PMMA, PAN, as well as the core-shell PMMA/PAN nanocomposite. The BET (Brunauer, Emmett and Teller) formula results showed that the specific surface area of the CNCs reinforced core-shell composite significantly increased with increasing CNCs content. The specific surface area of the composite with 20% CNCs loading rose to 9.62 m2/g from 3.76 m2/g for the control. A dense porous structure was formed on the surface of the electrospun core-shell fibers.
Highlights
As nanotechnology advances and there is a general awareness of the significance of sustainability and the importance of renewable biological materials, there is a renewed interest in cellulose materials.Cellulose and its derivatives are the most abundant renewable organic materials produced in the biosphere, with an annual production estimated to be over 7.5 × 1010 tons [1]
The main conclusion of this study is that the coaxial electrospun nanofibers with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs)
The main conclusion of this study is that the coaxial electrospun nanofibers with CNCs have some have some unique characteristics and properties, which could have many applications such as drug unique characteristics and properties, which could have many applications such as drug release and release and ion absorption
Summary
As nanotechnology advances and there is a general awareness of the significance of sustainability and the importance of renewable biological materials, there is a renewed interest in cellulose materials. Cellulose and its derivatives are the most abundant renewable organic materials produced in the biosphere, with an annual production estimated to be over 7.5 × 1010 tons [1]. Cellulose consists of crystalline and amorphous regions, from which highly ordered rod-like cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can be obtained via an acid hydrolysis [2,3]. CNCs have high mechanical properties, good thermal stability, nice biocompatibility, and ease of chemical modification [4], among other advantages. CNCs, as a reinforcement material, have enormous potential to improve the strength, modulus, and morphology of polymer matrix composites [5].
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