Influence of polyvinyl alcohol amount on producing in situ photo-crosslinked thioamide functionalized nanofiber membranes

Poly(vinyl alcohol)/maleic anhydride/acryloyl thioamide monomer (PVA/MA/ATM) photo-cured nanofiber membranes and pure PVA nanofiber membranes were produced by electrospinning technique. In situ UV radiation was applied during the electrospinning in order to provide polymerization during the jet flight and promote crosslinking of ATM and MA with PVA. The cross-linking was examined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphology and thermal behavior of electrospun nanofiber were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The surface area of nanofiber membranes was measured by Brunauer-Emmert-Teller (BET) analysis. Furthermore, water durability test was examined. Water durability test demonstrated that in situ photo-cured PVA/MA/ATM nanofiber membrane had the least average mass loss. The surface areas of PVA/MA/ATM nanofiber membranes were 160-280 m2/g. The surface area and diameter of PVA/MA/ATM nanofibers decreased as the PVA content increased. The diameter of nanofibers was obtained less than 100 nm. The results showed that the water-insoluble nanofiber membranes with better chemical and thermal resistance were obtained. These nanofiber membranes may be a promising candidate for the usage of water treatment.