title: Electrospinnability of bionanocomposites with high nanocrystal loadings: The effect of nanocrystal surface characteristics.
abstract: This paper deals with the effect of solution properties and nanoparticle surface chemistry on the spinnability of a chitosan/polyethylene oxide (PEO) with high concentration (50wt%) of chitin and cellulose nanocrystals and the properties of the resultant nanocomposite fibers/fiber mats. Electrospinning dispersions with cellulose nanocrystals having sulphate surface groups showed poor spinnability compared to chitin nanocrystals with amide and amino groups. Chitin nanocrystal based dispersions showed good spinnability and continuous fiber formation whereas cellulose nanocrystal system showed discontinuous fibers and branching. The viscosity and surface tension are shown to impact this behavior, but conductivity did not. Poor spinnability observed for cellulose nanocrystal based fibers was attributed to the coagulation of negatively charged cellulose nanocrystals and positively charged chitosan. The study showed that the nanocrystal surface charge and interactions with the chitosan/PEO matrix have a significant impact on the spinnability of bionanocomposites.
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naseri
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden; Division of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: aji.mathew@ltu.se.
authors.forename: Aji P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Science, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristiina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oksman
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin; D002482:Cellulose; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Chitin nanocrystals; Chitosan; Electrospinning; Nanocomposite fibers; Surface charge