Testing the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers Reinforced with Succinite and Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

In this research, we focused on testing the physical and mechanical properties of the developed polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite nanofibers with succinite (Baltic amber) and SiO2 particles using standard methods of nanofiber testing (physical and mechanical properties). Polyacrylonitrile composite nanofibers (based on the electrospinning method) were coated on an aluminum substrate for structural investigation. SEM was used to determine the average fiber diameter and standard deviation. The mechanical properties of the fibers were determined using a universal testing machine (NANO, MTS). We observed that constant or decreased levels of crystallinity in the ultrafine composite nanofibers led to the preservation of high levels of strain at failure and that the strength of nanofibers increased substantially as their diameter reduced. Improvements in PAN composite nanofibers with succinite and SiO2 nanopowder are feasible with continuous decreases in diameter. The drastically decreased strain at failure demonstrated a substantial reduction in viscosity (toughness) of the annealed nanofibers. Large stresses at failure in the as-spun nanofibers were a result of their low crystallinity. As a result, decreasing the diameter of PAN nanofibers from approximately 2 micrometers to 139 nanometers (the smallest nanofiber tested) resulted in instantaneous increases in the elastic modulus from 1 to 26 GPa, true strength from 100 to 1750 MPa, and toughness from 20 to 604 MPa.

The Mechanical Properties of Nanocomposites Reinforced with PA6 Electrospun Nanofibers

“…Studies based on nanofibers have revealed that the mechanical characteristics grow exponentially as the fiber diameter drops to a critical point. When the nanofibers are intertwined, the nanofiber’s structure has fewer irregularities and a more uniform structure, resulting in increased endurance [ 21 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. In our research, we found that when nanofibers were collected at 1800 rpm with an average diameter of 234.85 ± 43.68 nm, the young’s modulus was 3200 ± 15, which was higher than when the nanofibers were collected at a lower speed or on a flat plate.…”

“…There are several methods for producing nanofibers, including jet blowing, melt blowing, coextrusion, interfacial polymerization, and electrospinning [ 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Among these approaches, electrospinning has been extensively used to create polymer nanofibers, nanocomposites, as well as nanofibers containing different nanoparticles [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ], graphene [ 25 ], graphene oxide [ 26 ], and carbon nanotubes [ 27 ] for different applications, such as biomedical [ 28 , 29 ], energy conversation [ 30 ], and tissue engineering [ 31 , 32 ]. Furthermore, the use of an electrospun thermoplastic nanofiber mats to toughen the glass/carbon epoxy laminated composites without degrading the in-plane mechanical properties and without considerably increasing the laminate thickness and weight has emerged as a promising technology [ 33 , 34 ].…”

“…The structure and mechanical characteristics of nanofiber mats produced by electrospinning rely on a number of factors, including the collector type [ 40 ], rotating drum speed [ 41 ], collector distance, syringe diameter, and polymeric solution flow rate via the syringe [ 42 ]. Reducing the nanofiber’s diameter enhances its strength [ 21 ]. Therefore, it is essential to produce a nanofiber mat with uniformly oriented nanofibers in order to obtain the greatest performance from the nanocomposite created from this nanofiber mat.…”

Morphology and mechanical properties of PAN nanofiber mat

“…Among these are the polymer solution's molecular weight, volume, solution flow rate, viscosity, conductivity, surface tension, syringe-to-collector distance, ambient temperature, and humidity [7]. Nanofibers' strength increases as their diameter decreases [8]. In addition, highly oriented, flexible nanofibers with exceptional mechanical properties are in extremely popular for several applications [9].…”

Nanofibrous PAN‐PDMS Films‐Based High‐Performance Triboelectric Artificial Whisker for Self‐Powered Obstacle Detection

“…The attracting features of PAN such as low density, thermal stability, and high tensile strength make PAN an important material in various fields including automobile sector, textile, high temperature industrial plants, and so on. [9,10] Recently, PAN (as tribopositive) and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) were used as contact material for triboelectrification by Yar et al [11] In their experiments zinc oxide (ZnO) and boric acid (B(OH)3) were added to study their influence in the device's performance. No favorable output was obtained for ZnO while for the PAN/B(OH) 3 TENG, the enhanced power output was around 6.67 W m −2 .…”