Preparation Of Nanofibers And PLA/LDHs Composite Fibers By Electrospinning Method

A new melt-electrospinning system equipped with a CO₂-laser melting device was developed. Rodlike samples were prepared from poly(lactide)(PLA) pellets and poly(ethylene-co-vinly alcohol) (EVAL) pellets, then fibers were produced from the samples using the new system. The effects of preparation conditions on the fiber diameter were studied, and the physi-chemical properties of the fibers were investigated. Furthermore, composite fibers of PLA/LDHs were prepared by the solution electrospinning method, and the production process as well as the thennal decomposition behavior of the fibers have been studied primarily.Fibers of PLA and EVAL with an average fiber diameter smaller than 1μm have been obtained using the melt-electrospinning system developed in this work. It was found that there is no relationship between the laser output power and fiber diameter. The melting point and molecular weight of PLA fibers decreased with the increase of the laser output power, while the two parameters of EVAL fivers did not change remarkably. The PLA fibers exhibited an amorphous phase, and the annealed fibers exhibited an isotropic crystal orientation, but preferred crystal orientation can be seen in electrospun EVAL fibers.Inorganic nanosized layered double hydroxides (LDHs) modified with SDS were incorporated into semi-crystalline poly(lactide) (PLA) nanofiber non-woven membranes by combining a nanocomposite technique and the solution electrospinning process. The structure, morphology and thermal property of the electrospun membranes were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). It was found that the glass transition temperature of PLA decreased upon the increase of LDHs content in the membranes.