title: Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Electrospun Nanofiber Mats through Controllable Welding at the Cross Points.
abstract: This communication describes a simple and effective method for welding electrospun nanofibers at the cross points to enhance the mechanical properties of their nonwoven mats. The welding is achieved by placing a nonwoven mat of the nanofibers in a capped vial with the vapor of a proper solvent. For polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers, the solvent is dichloromethane (DCM). The welding can be managed in a controllable fashion by simply varying the partial pressure of DCM and/or the exposure time. Relative to the pristine nanofiber mat, the mechanical strength of the welded PCL nanofiber mat can be increased by as much as 200%. Meanwhile, such a treatment does not cause any major structural changes, including morphology, fiber diameter, and pore size. This study provides a generic method for improving the mechanical properties of nonwoven nanofiber mats, holding great potential in various applications.
authors.affiliation: The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.|Key Laboratory of Textile Science and Technology, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Haoxuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Chunlei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Textile Science and Technology, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qinfei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.|School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Younan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000592:standards; D014896:Welding
keywords: electrospinning; mechanical properties; nanofibers; welding