Neat and GNPs loaded natural rubber fibers by electrospinning: Manufacturing and characterization

Abstract

The interest towards natural rubber (NR) is progressively increasing due to its sustainable production and remarkable mechanical properties, presenting a wide application range in the automotive industry and civil engineering. In this paper we report, for the first time, the use of electrospinning technique to produce neat and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs, 1 wt.%) loaded natural rubber fibers. Both randomly distributed and aligned fibers (average diameter size ~ 1 μm) mats were obtained, resulting uniform and defect-free. A detailed characterization of these fibers is reported, including field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) techniques. It has been demonstrated that the electrospinning process is able to induce a strong orientation of the polymeric chains in the case of aligned fibers, with respect to the randomly oriented fibers and solvent cast films

Ribbon‐like microfiber of vulcanized and non‐vulcanized natural rubber obtained by the solution blow spinning

“…The methodology used produced fibers with solution injection rates above 13 mL/h, which is at least five times higher than used with NR electrospinning. [23][24][25] After heat treatment, microfibers containing vulcanizing agents showed increased mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation). The morphology, mechanical, and thermal properties were influenced by the processing parameters and the physical state of the solutions, as will be seen below.…”

Elastic sheath–liquid crystal core fibres achieved by microfluidic wet spinning

“…2,6,7,9,[18][19][20] On the other hand, the range of polymers suitable for electrospinning is somewhat limited, 15 with minimal success achieved by using elastomers, in part due to the volatile, nonpolar solvents needed to dissolve them. 21,22 This reveals a need for a technique better suited to spinning fibres with an elastomeric sheath and a functional heterocore.…”

Biomarkers-based Biosensing and Bioimaging with Graphene for Cancer Diagnosis

“…The discovery of graphene in 2004 has been accompanied by increasing research interests to explore this novel material for cancer diagnosis applications [5]. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, possesses remarkable optical, electronic and thermal properties; mechanical and chemical stability; large surface area; and good biocompatibility, endowing its versatile application in nanoelectronics, quantum physics, and catalysis, reinforcing filler and energy research [6,7,8,9,10,11]. For nanomedicine, graphene has been developed as multiple effective devices with diverse functions of disease diagnostics and therapies.…”