Electrospun Polyvinyl Alcohol/Halloysite Nanotubes Composite Nanofibers

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) composite fibers have been produced by electrospinning. The electrospun composite fibers were further crosslinked by glutaraldehyde (GA). The effects of voltage, HNTs contents and GA contents on the electrospinnability were investigated. The crystallization and interaction between PVA and HNT were discussed. The results revealed that the HNTs/PVA composite nanofibers have diameters in the range of 100-400 nm. The hydrogen bonding between PVA and HNTs was substantiated and HNTs was proposed to locate close to the fiber surface. With the increasing of HNTs loading, the PVA crystallinity was firstly increased and then decreased, which was attributed to the nucleating and confinement effects of the aligned HNTs in the composite fibers. The crosslinking did not change the fiber morphology significantly and the porous characteristics of the mat were retained.