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Nano Research 2024, 17(4): 3156-3163 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6075-2
Research Article | Issue | Published: 13 September 2023

Continuous preparation of strong and tough PVA nanocomposite fibers by mechanical stretching-assisted salting-out treatment

Show Author's Information Hang Chen1,  Guangze Yang1,  Yingzhi Sun1,  Yichao Xu2( ),  Mingjie Liu1,3( )
Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Research Institute for Frontier Science, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Keywords:
oriented structure, ultrastrong and stiff, mechanical vibration transmission, salting out, continuous production, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers
Topics:
NanocompositesNanofibersNanostructured materials
Cite this article:
Chen H, Yang G, Sun Y, et al. Continuous preparation of strong and tough PVA nanocomposite fibers by mechanical stretching-assisted salting-out treatment. Nano Research, 2024, 17(4): 3156-3163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6075-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Polymer composite fibers with superior properties such as excellent combined strength and toughness and biocompatibility can be used in high-tech applications of braided protective devices and smart wearable, however the research of high-performance polymer composite fiber remains in the infant stage. Here we present a strategy to produce strong and tough anisotropic polymer nanocomposite fibers with orientedly aligned salt rods using mechanical stretching-assisted salting-out treatment. The prepared nanocomposite fibers have a tensile strength of up to 786 ± 2.7 MPa and an elongation at break of 81%, and the anisotropic fibers exhibit good transmission of mechanical vibration in the longitudinal direction with high resolution. During the fabrication process, the salt builds up into oriented rods during the directional salting process, and the polymer is confined to the 150 nm domain between the rods after the solvent is completely evaporated, giving the nanocomposite fibers superior mechanical properties. The presented strategy can be applied to the continuous mass production of nanocomposite fibers and is also generalizable to other polymer nanocomposites, which could extend the applicability of nanocomposite fibers to conditions involving more demanding mechanical loading and mechanical vibration transmission.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Continuous preparation of strong and tough PVA nanocomposite fibers by mechanical stretching-assisted salting-out treatment

Show Author's information Hang Chen1, Guangze Yang1, Yingzhi Sun1, Yichao Xu2( ), Mingjie Liu1,3( )
Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Research Institute for Frontier Science, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

Abstract

Polymer composite fibers with superior properties such as excellent combined strength and toughness and biocompatibility can be used in high-tech applications of braided protective devices and smart wearable, however the research of high-performance polymer composite fiber remains in the infant stage. Here we present a strategy to produce strong and tough anisotropic polymer nanocomposite fibers with orientedly aligned salt rods using mechanical stretching-assisted salting-out treatment. The prepared nanocomposite fibers have a tensile strength of up to 786 ± 2.7 MPa and an elongation at break of 81%, and the anisotropic fibers exhibit good transmission of mechanical vibration in the longitudinal direction with high resolution. During the fabrication process, the salt builds up into oriented rods during the directional salting process, and the polymer is confined to the 150 nm domain between the rods after the solvent is completely evaporated, giving the nanocomposite fibers superior mechanical properties. The presented strategy can be applied to the continuous mass production of nanocomposite fibers and is also generalizable to other polymer nanocomposites, which could extend the applicability of nanocomposite fibers to conditions involving more demanding mechanical loading and mechanical vibration transmission.

Keywords: oriented structure, ultrastrong and stiff, mechanical vibration transmission, salting out, continuous production, poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 12 July 2023
Revised: 06 August 2023
Accepted: 07 August 2023
Published: 13 September 2023
Issue date: April 2024

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2022YFA1503000), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22161142021 and 22175010).

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