title: Effect of silver nanoparticles and cellulose nanocrystals on electrospun poly(lactic) acid mats: morphology, thermal properties and mechanical behavior.
abstract: The fabrication of ternary fibrous mats based on poly(lactic) acid (PLA), cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs, both pristine (p-CNCs) and modified with a commercial surfactant (s-CNCs)) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles by electrospinning is reported. Amounts of 1 and 5 wt.% were selected for Ag and CNCs, respectively. Neat PLA and binary PLA/Ag, PLA/p-CNCs and PLA/s-CNCs were produced as references. The CNCs and Ag influence on the microstructural, thermal and mechanical properties was investigated. The Ag and/or p-CNCs addition did not remarkably affect fiber morphology and average size dimension (between (468 ± 111) and (551 ± 122)nm), whereas the s-CNCs presence led to the deposition of a honeycomb-like network on a underneath layer of randomly oriented fibers. The efficiency of the surfactant use in promoting the CNC dispersion was demonstrated. A slight enhancement (e.g. around 25%, in terms of strength) of the mechanical properties of p-CNCs loaded fibers, particularly for PLA/Ag/p-CNCs, was revealed, whereas mats with s-CNCs showed a decrement (e.g. around 35-45%, in terms of strength), mainly imputable to the delamination between the upper honeycomb-like layer and the lower conventional fibrous mat.
authors: University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Department of Industrial Engineering, INSTM RU "Tor Vergata", Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: ilaria.cacciotti@uniroma2.it.
authors: Ilaria
authors: I
authors: Cacciotti
authors: Materials Engineering Centre, UdR INSTM, NIPLAB, University of Perugia, Strada di Pentima 4, 05100 Terni, Italy.
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Fortunati
authors: Materials Engineering Centre, UdR INSTM, NIPLAB, University of Perugia, Strada di Pentima 4, 05100 Terni, Italy.
authors: Debora
authors: D
authors: Puglia
authors: Materials Engineering Centre, UdR INSTM, NIPLAB, University of Perugia, Strada di Pentima 4, 05100 Terni, Italy; Institute of Polymer Science and Technology, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.
authors: Josè Maria
authors: JM
authors: Kenny
authors: University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Department of Industrial Engineering, INSTM RU "Tor Vergata", Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Nanni
keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Electrospinning; Honeycomb structure; Poly(lactic acid); Self-assembling; Silver nanoparticles