Preparation and Characterization of Cellulose Nanofibril/Polyvinyl Alcohol Composite Nanofibers by Electrospinning

Abstract

This work undertook to prepare nanofibers of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite by electrospinning, and characterize the electrospun composite nanofibers. Different contents of CNFs isolated from hardwood bleached kraft pulp (HW-BKP) by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxy radical (TEMPO)-mediated oxidation were suspended in aqueous polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution, and then electrospun into CNF/PVA composite nanofibers. The morphology and dimension of CNFs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which revealed that CNFs were fibrillated form with the diameter of about $7.07{\pm}0.99$ nm. Morphology of the electrospun nanofiber observed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed that uniform CNF/PVA composite nanofibers were manufactured at 1~3% CNF contents while many beads were observed at 5% CNF level. Both the viscosity of CNF/PVA solution and diameter of the electrospun nanofiber decreased with an increase in CNF content. The diameter and its distribution of the electrospun nanofibers helped explain the differences observed in their morphology. These results show that the electrospinning method was successful in preparing uniform CNF/PVA nanofibers, indicating a great potential for manufacturing consistent and reliable cellulose-based nanofibrils for scaffolds in future applications.