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Physical stabilisation of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibres: comparative study on methanol and heat-based crosslinking

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Abstract

Methanol crosslinking and heat-treatment methods for physical crosslinking of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibres were investigated to assess their stability in water. For this purpose, PVAs with low and high molecular weights were selected. Morphology of the crosslinked membranes was characterised by scanning electron microscopy. Crystallinity of the resultant crosslinked fibres were analysed by FT-IR and differential scanning calorimetry. It has been shown that physical crosslinking increases the crystallinity of the fibres. High molecular weight PVA nanofibres showed better stability and better preservation of nanofibrous structure. Stability of the crosslinked membranes was also tested by immersion into water at room temperature and boiling water. Combined methanol and heat treatments at different temperatures and exposure periods were also investigated. Treatment at 180 °C HMW PVA nanofibres for longer durations exhibited best results in terms of water stability, although it exhibited somewhat lower swelling ratios as compared to those subjected to only methanol treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This research work was carried out by the support of UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) BEST Program, Bangladesh and University of Bolton, UK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Materials Research and Innovation, University of Bolton, Bolton, BL3 5AB, UK

    Mohsen Miraftab & Abu Naser Saifullah

  2. Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ege University, Izmir, 35100, Turkey

    Ahmet Çay

Authors
  1. Mohsen Miraftab
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  2. Abu Naser Saifullah
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  3. Ahmet Çay
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohsen Miraftab.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Table 7 Variance analysis of the fibre diameters of LMW PVA nanofibres
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Table 8 Variance analysis of the fibre diameters of HMW PVA nanofibres
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Table 9 Variance analysis of the effects of process time on swelling during methanol treatment
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Table 10 Variance analysis of the effects of process time on swelling during heat treatment
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Table 11 p values of the effects temperature and molecular weight difference on swelling for each heat treatment application
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Table 12 Variance analysis of the effects of stabilisation method on swelling
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Miraftab, M., Saifullah, A.N. & Çay, A. Physical stabilisation of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibres: comparative study on methanol and heat-based crosslinking. J Mater Sci 50, 1943–1957 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8759-1

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