Abstract
This study used melt-electrospinning writing to fabricate three-dimensional fiber constructs by embedding them in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to obtain thin composite films. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to demonstrate an interaction between the polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous phase and the PVA matrix phase. Following this, the mechanical deformation behavior of the composite was investigated, and the effect of reinforcement with three-dimensional fibrous constructs was illustrated. The specific strength of the composite was found to be five times higher than the specific strength of the neat PVA matrix. Additionally, the specific toughness of the composite was determined to be roughly four times higher than the specific toughness determined for the neat PVA matrix. These results demonstrate the potential of using melt-electrospinning writing for producing three-dimensional fibrous constructs for composite reinforcement purposes.
Highlights
Fiber reinforced composites are an emerging class of materials that are increasingly investigated for a wide range of applications, including biomedical, energy, packaging, and advanced structural applications [1,2,3,4,5]
The toughness can be further increased if the interfacial interaction between the matrix and the fiber phases is improved. These results show that fibers obtained using melt-electrospinning writing can be used for reinforcement purposes
The results presented in this manuscript demonstrate the potential of using the fibers obtained from melt-electrospinning writing for composite reinforcement
Summary
Fiber reinforced composites are an emerging class of materials that are increasingly investigated for a wide range of applications, including biomedical, energy, packaging, and advanced structural applications [1,2,3,4,5]. Among all the processing technologies, electrospinning has gained widespread attention as one of the simplest and straightforward fabrication techniques to produce fibers for composite reinforcement [6,7]. The fibers produced using this technique have a large length to diameter ratio and large surface area. The high draw ratio and elongation experienced by the fibers during the electrospinning process aligns the molecular chains along the fiber axis. This explains why electrospun fibers can display enhanced mechanical strength and stiffness compared its bulk counterparts [8,9,10,11].
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