Skeleton-reinforced electrospun nanofiber membrane with enhanced mechanical strength

Abstract

Abstract Electrospun membranes are made of thousands of nanofibers and are widely used in many fields. However, their poor mechanical properties seriously restrict their industrialization. In this paper, a simple post fabrication strategy is proposed to enhance the strength of electrospun nanofiber membranes. The polymer skeleton was melted electrohydrodynamic direct-writing into the electrospun nanofiber membrane and penetrated the nanofiber membrane to enhance its mechanical properties. As a verification, composite membrane with polyimide nanofiber and polylactide skeleton was generated, and tensile strength increased from 14.9 MPa to 34.2 MPa without significant loss of fiber morphology. In addition, finite element analysis was conducted. Our method makes it possible to predict the mechanical properties of nanofiber membranes in advance.