Controlled preparation of polyimide/polysulfone amide (PI/PSA) porous micro-nano fiber membranes by microemulsion electrospinning for excellent thermal insulation

Abstract

In order to obtain fiber membrane materials with excellent thermal insulation properties, we successfully prepared lightweight PI/PSA porous micro-nano fiber membranes by microemulsion electrospinning technology combined with calcination in this work. The morphology, tensile strength and thermal insulation properties of the fiber membranes were fully characterized. The PI/PSA micro-nano fiber membranes prepared at the PI concentration of 17 wt%, the dispersed phase/continuous phase mass ratio of 1/10, the PI/PSA mass ratio of 7/3, and the voltage of 16 kV exhibited the best morphology and the most uniform fiber diameter. Besides, the PI/PSA porous micro-nano fiber membrane obtained after calcination had excellent tensile properties (breaking stress: 10.54 ± 1.96 MPa) and thermal insulation performance (thermal conductivity: 44.7 mW·m−1·K−1). The thermal imaging and thermocouple results showed that the thermal insulation performance of PI/PSA porous micro-nano fiber membrane was superior to that of PI/PSA membrane, and the thermal insulation properties became more excellent as the number of membrane layers increased. The PI/PSA porous micro-nano fiber membrane with low thermal conductivity acquired in this work is expected to broaden the application of protective clothing.