UV-initiated crosslinking of electrospun poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibers with pentaerythritol triacrylate: Effect of irradiation time and incorporated cellulose nanocrystals

UV-initiated crosslinking of electrospun poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibers in the presence of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) was performed with pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA) as both photo-initiator and crosslinker in order to determine the effect of irradiation time and incorporated CNCs. The chemical structure and morphologies, swelling and mechanical properties of crosslinked nanofibers were investigated. The experimental results show that UV irradiation did not exhibit a dramatic effect on the diameter of PEO nanofibers. Among the irradiation time used, a 40 min time was optimal for the UV-initiated crosslinking process. With increased CNC content up to 10 wt%, the crosslinked PEO/CNC composite nanofibers became more uniform and smaller in diameter, and also showed a significant improvement in the swelling and mechanical properties. At the CNC content of 10 wt%, the maximum tensile stress and Youngʹs modulus of the crosslinked PEO/CNC composite fibrous mats increased by 377.5 and 190.5% than those of uncrosslinked PEO mats, and 76.5 and 127.4% than those of crosslinked PEO mats, respectively.