Fabrication of Ionic Cellulose Nanofiber Composites by Electrospinning Cellulose Microfibril-Gel-Dispersions in Poly(vinyl Alcohol) Solution

ABSTRACT

In this study, we propose a fabrication method to obtain composites of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/ionic cellulose nanofibers, in which a fiber structure is manipulated through a reconstruction of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinyl-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TCNF) or the carboxymethyl cellulose nanofiber (CMCNF) heterogeneous microfibril gels using electrospinning method. The key concept is to assemble nanofibers from thin few-nanometer-scale width cellulose nanofibers (microfibrils) to thicker several-hundred-nanometer-scale width cellulose nanofibers by electrospinning insoluble microfibril-gel-dispersion in PVA solution. In the case of CMCNF, nanofibers with less-fused structures were successfully reconstructed via electrospinning. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that sodium ions exist in the fibers, where they function as counter ions of carboxylate groups of polyelectrolyte moiety of CMCNF. Thus, the obtained composites do contain both ionic cellulose nanofibers and PVA. The proposed fabrication route can be used to fabricate composites as nonwoven fabrics of polyelectrolyte nanofibers. These natural polymer based ionic fabrics will be widely useful to propose low-environmental-impact polymer actuators and active sensing elements involving the ion transport phenomena.

摘要

在这项研究中, 我们提出了一种制备聚乙烯醇 (PVA)/离子纤维素纳米纤维复合材料的方法, 通过重建2, 2, 6, 采用静电纺丝法制备6-四甲基哌啶基-1-氧自由基 (TEMPO) -氧化纤维素纳米纤维 (TCNF) 或羧甲基纤维素纳米纤维 (CMCNF) 非均相微纤维凝胶. 其关键概念是在PVA溶液中, 通过静电纺丝将不溶性微纤丝凝胶分散体从薄的几纳米尺度宽度的纤维素纳米纤维 (微纤丝) 组装成厚的几百纳米尺度宽度的纤维素纳米纤维. 在CMCNF的情况下, 通过静电纺丝成功地重建了具有较少熔融结构的纳米纤维. X射线能谱分析表明, 钠离子存在于纤维中, 作为CMCNF聚电解质部分羧基的反离子. 因此, 所获得的复合材料确实同时含有离子纤维素纳米纤维和聚乙烯醇. 该方法可用于制备聚电解质纳米纤维非织造布复合材料. 这些天然聚合物基离子织物将广泛应用于提出低环境影响的聚合物致动器和涉及离子传输现象的有源传感元件.

KEYWORDS:

• Cellulose Nanofiber
• electrospinning
• microfibril
• dispersion
• gel
• polyelectrolyte
• 关键词: 纤维素纳米纤维
• 静电纺丝
• 微纤维
• 分散性
• 凝胶
• 聚电解质

Acknowledgments

This study was partially supported by research grants from the University of Fukui.