Macromolecules, Vol.43, No.14, 6152-6155, 2010
Designing Nanofibers via Electrospinning from Aqueous Colloidal Dispersions: Effect of Cross-Linking and Template Polymer
Nano- and mesofibers were prepared via electrospinning of dispersions of styrene acrylate copolymers from an aqueous environment The synthetic versatility of emulsion polymerization technique allowed us to incorporate cross-linking strategies to improve the thermal and mechanical stability of fibers. In general, a water-soluble template-polymer (<10 wt %) had to be added to the polymer dispersion to provide the viscoelasticity required for electrospinning The molecular weight of the template polymer used had a significant influence on the electrospinnable composition of the mixture (ratio wt % polymer particle wt % template polymer), and in general the higher the molecular weight of the template polymer the lower the mass required to obtain the nanofibers