Porous fibers surface decorated with nanofillers: From melt‐spun PP/PVA blend fibers with silica nanoparticles

Abstract

Biphasic polypropylene (PP)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers containing silica nanoparticles with various surface hydrophobicity were melt-spun. The localization of nanoparticles relates on the thermodynamic factors, and the design promotes a surface-decorated fibrous scaffold with nanoparticles after selective extraction. The influence of silica nanoparticles on the melt flow index was observed, and the interface-located Aerosil R972 silica nanoparticles lead to an increase in viscosity. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrates the preponderant interfacial localization of Aerosil R972 nanoparticles within the biphasic fibers. The porous morphology of the obtained fibers was investigated by SEM, selective extraction experiment, X-ray diffraction analysis, and dynamical mechanical analysis. The specific interface area of PP 70 -PVA 30 fibers with a draw ratio (DR) of 2 is 3.2 m 2 g −1 and is further enlarged with the increase of DR. The incorporation of nanoparticles contributes to the increase of interconnectivity of the PVA phase. The further increment of DR modifies the crystalline structure, and results in better mechanical properties. The Aerosil R972-containing fibers with the DR of 3 provide almost completely accessible PVA phase, with enough mechanical strength to be transformed into textile products, and retains a good mechanical property after selective extraction.

Porous Fiber Processing and Manufacturing for Energy Storage Applications

“…As compared with the electrospinning technique for porous fiber preparation, some other spinning methods have demonstrated their advantages. Among them, melt spinning is considered as a convenient way for large scale porous polymer fiber processing [60]. Melt spinning or melt extrusion as a traditional approach has found wide applications in spinning thermoplastic polymer fibers.…”

PVA-Based Electrospun Materials—A Promising Route to Designing Nanofiber Mats with Desired Morphological Shape—A Review

“…Although its use in clothing is much less popular than that of other synthetic fibers, PVA fiber is still known for its moisture absorption and wear-resistance properties. The use of PVA multifilament yarns has been studied for biomedical applications [35], to improve the comfort of textiles [36,37], to design electrically conductive structures [38], as superabsorbent textile fabric [39], as sacrificial fibers for porous structures [40][41][42][43][44], and so on. The properties of PVA-based yarns vary according to the production method used and the intended application, such as wet spinning, melt spinning, gel spinning, and wet-dry spinning [45].…”