Electrospun sodium alginate/polyethylene oxide fibers and nano-coated yarns

Sodium alginate (NaAlg), as a natural biopolymer, was electrospun from aqueous solution via blending with a bio-friendly synthetic polymer polyethylene oxide. The morphology and chemical properties of resultant alginate-based nanofibers were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X-ray diffractometer (PXRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). At a wide voltage window (i.e. 12-24 kV), smooth and uniform nanofibers were obtained from the 5.0% concentration with the NaAlg/PEO ratio ranging from 1:1 to 1:3. The results from FTIR, PXRD and DSC demonstrate that molecular interaction exists between these two polymers and therefore contributes to the alteration of crystallinity of electrospun fibers. In addition, NaAlg/PEO nanofiber coated polylactic acid (PLA) yarns with different twist levels were also fabricated in this work. The results show that the tensile strength of the nano-coated hybrid yarn and the uncoated yarn increase with the twist per centimeter (TPC) up to 0.5 but decrease when TPC is further increased. The tensile properties of hybrid yarn are superior to those of the uncoated yarn.