Influence of Copper Ions on Mechanical Properties of PVA-Based Nanofiber Textiles

Abstract

The nanofiber textiles are utilized in the textile industry, as a treatment of exposed surfaces, they find their use in medicine and in future they might be used in civil engineering as vapor barriers. For some applications it is advantageous to use the textiles with special, e.g. antibacterial, treatment by means of silver or copper ions. This paper is focused on the determination of mechanical properties of PVA-based nanofiber textiles produced by electro-spinning. The polymer solution used for electrospinning contained copper in the form of ions. The results of the tensile testing were compared with the results for the reference sample without any additives. The results indicate that the addition copper ions cause an increase of the strength and stiffness.