Melt-Electrospun Polyvinylbutyral Bonded Polypropylene Composite Fibrous Mat: Spinning Process, Structure and Mechanical Property Study

In this study, a novel polyvinylbutyral (PVB) bonded polypropylene (PP) composite fibrous mat was fabricated via melt-electrospinning. In order to enhance the structure stability and mechanical properties of pristine PP fibrous mat system, preparation and characterization of the composite fibrous material by mixing different percentages of PVB and PP was designed. The PVB can form bonding point between the PP fibers, which can ease the slip phenomenon between strained fibers. The structure, morphology, tensile and tearing stress were measured systematically. The resultants exhibited that the tensile stress and tearing strength of composite fibrous mats were increased from 30.13 to 43.73 kPa and from 0.07 to 0.5 N, respectively. Meanwhile, the straight jet length and whipping range of each electrospun jets were analyzed via the images captured by a high-speed photography system during the spinning process. The experimental resultants depicted that composite system can lead to longer straight jet length and smaller whipping range.