| Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/α-zirconium phosphate (ZrP) polymer nanocomposite (PNC) fibers were successfully prepared via the simple and low-cost electrospinning process. ZrP nanoparticles with two different dimensions, i.e., ZrP-500 with a lateral dimension of ca. 320 nm and an aspect ratio of ca. 500, and ZrP-1500 with a lateral dimension of ca. 950 nm and an aspect ratio of ca. 1500, were utilized to illustrate the size effect on the electrospun nanofibers. In order to obtain defect-free, uniform polymer nanocomposite fibers, a number of parameters including polymer concentration, feed rate, applied voltage and working distance between the needle tip and the fiber collecting substrate were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) morphological analysis showed smooth and nonwoven electrospun nanofiber mat. Strong intermolecular interactions between the PVA matrix and the included ZrP nanofillers were revealed by the attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The incorporation of ZrP nanofillers drastically improved the thermal stability of the PNC fibers. TGA results demonstrated a clear thermal stability dependence on the aspect ratio of the crystalline ZrP nanofillers. The degradation temperature was increased by 90 °C for the ZrP-1500 and 60 °C for ZrP-500 when the loading level was increased from 1% to 5%. Furthermore, the viscoelastic properties of the PNC solutions were studied by rheometer. |
