Increased mechanical properties of aligned and isotropic electrospun PVA nanofiber webs by cellulose nanowhisker reinforcement

Cellulose nanowhisker-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber webs with different alignment degrees were successfully fabricated using an electrospinning technique. The morphology and mechanical properties of aligned and isotropic electrospun fiber webs were investigated. The relative alignment degree of electrospun fiber in the webs was analyzed using a fast Fourier transform method. Due to the different load transfer mechanisms, aligned PVA electrospun fiber webs show high modulus and tensile strength along the fiber direction compared with isotropic PVA electrospun fiber webs. Cellulose nanowhisker-reinforced PVA electrospun fiber webs show increased mechanical properties for both the aligned electrospun webs and the isotropic electrospun webs. Experiment results indicate that cellulose nanowhiskers have a more significant reinforcement effect for the aligned webs than the isotropic webs.