Preparation and characterization of a nanoscale poly(vinyl alcohol) fiber aggregate produced by an electrospinning method

Nanoscale poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) fiber (100-500 nm) aggregates were prepared with an electrospinning technique. Additionally, a chemical crosslinking method was used to crosslink the nanoscale PVA fiber aggregates. Differential scanning calorimetry, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy techniques were employed to characterize the PVA fiber aggregates. The different crosslinking densities of the PVA fiber aggregates were obtained through the control of the weight percentage of glyoxal to PVA. The crosslinking densities due to heat treatment and chemical crosslinking were studied. The influence of heat treatment could be neglected in contrast to chemical crosslinking when the curing temperature was 120 C. The primary factor that affected the crosslinking density was the volume of the chemical crosslinking agent. The results showed that the properly crosslinked PVA fiber aggregates had better antiwater solubility and mechanical properties than the non-crosslinked PVA fiber aggregates. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.