Preparation, characterizations and properties of sodium alginate grafted acrylonitrile/polyethylene glycol electrospun nanofibers

Abstract

In this work, to improve the spinnability of sodium alginate, potassium persulfate (KPS) was used as initiator, SA was modified with acrylonitrile (AN) to prepare sodium alginate-polyacrylonitrile copolymer (SA-g-AN), and SA-g-AN/PEG composite solutions were prepared by blending SA-g-AN and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as spinning solution to prepare corresponding electrospun nanofibers. The chemical structure and thermal stability of SA-g-AN were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The physical properties of SA-g-AN and SA-g-AN/PEG spinning solution were determined by viscometer, surface tension meter and electrical conductivity meter, the morphology of SA-g-AN and SA-g-AN/PEG electrospun fibers were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). And the oil-water separation performance and water resistance of SA-g-AN electrospun fibers were also investigated. The results revealed that: the graft modification of acrylonitrile significantly improved the electrospinnability of sodium alginate. The water-resistance of modified graft copolymer was improved as well as the thermal stability, and the electrospun nanofibers had a uniform morphology and stable oil-water separation performance.