Direct Electrospinning of Cellulose Acetate onto Polyurethane Sheet and Effect of Its Saponification on Mechanical Properties

Abstract

This article reports on direct electrospinning of water-soluble cellulose acetate (WSCA) and cellulose diacetate (CDA) onto a non-conductive synthetic polymer sheet such as polyurethane (PU) sheet to modify its surface morphology. The direct electrospinning was successfully performed after spraying an anti-static agent on the PU sheet. Furthermore, tight fixation of the fibers was achieved by spraying a dimethylformamide/ethanol (1/1) solution during the spinning. Finally, the cellulose acetate fibers on the PU sheet were converted to regenerated cellulose fibers by saponification. Changes in surface morphology were evaluated via tribology tests. The friction coefficient of the PU sheet significantly decreased with increases in the amount of deposited fiber, thereby suggesting that the PU sheet surface became smoother. After saponification, the friction coefficients of the sheets slightly increased, with the exception of the PU sheet with the increased amount of saponified WSCA fibers, and this was potentially attributed to changes in the elasticity upon saponification.

Keywords:

• Electrospinning
• cellulose acetate
• polyurethane (PU) sheet
• lamination
• tribology test

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.