Effect of Constrained Annealing on the Mechanical Properties of Electrospun Poly(ethylene oxide) Webs Containing Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

In this work, flexible nanofibrous membranes (mats) of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with and without multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were fabricated by electrospinning. The effects of annealing and MWNT concentration on mat morphology, MWNT dispersion within the nanofibers, and the mechanical properties of electrospun mats were studied. Annealing temperatures ranged from 60 degrees C to 64 degrees C [near the melting temperature (64 degrees C via differential scanning calorimetry)] for 4 minutes. Samples were annealed with and without applied tension (constrained and unconstrained annealing). Annealing at the highest temperature (64 degrees C), before the loss of fibrous morphology, significantly improved fiber-fiber bonding and therefore the tensile strength of the mats. Compared with unconstrained annealing, constrained annealing introduced fiber alignment (and therefore molecular orientation) along the tensile axis (direction of constraint) during annealing and resulted in a significant increase in modulus for all samples (with and without MWNTs). The use of constrained annealing may be a facile approach to enhance modulus in nanofibrous mats while maintaining high porosity. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.