Authors: Ning Cai Qin Dai Zelong Wang Xiaogang Luo Yanan Xue Faquan Yu
Publish Date: 2015/01/04
Volume: 15, Issue: 12, Pages: 2544-2552
Abstract
Nanodiamonds NDs were employed for the first time to enhance the mechanical properties of polylactic acid PLAbased nanofiber scaffolds Uniform ND/PLA composite nanofibers can be electrospun at 1 wt loading of NDs The introduction of NDs improved the thermal stability of PLAbased nanofibers Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results demonstrated good adhesion between ND nanofillers and PLA matrix Following the addition of NDs the four mechanical indicators tensile strength Young’s modulus elongation at break and fracture toughness of ND/PLA composite nanofiber membranes increased accompanied by the later decrease with the rise of ND content The four indicators achieved their respective maximum value at 1 wt ND content which revealed 24 fold increase of tensile strength 16 fold augment of Young’s modulus 14 fold elevation of elongation at break and 48 fold growth of fracture toughness respectively Compared with the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of neat PLA ND nanofillers exhibited the best reinforcing ability for PLAbased composite nanofibers which was attributed to the effective interfacial adhesion between PLA and rigid ND particles and the good dispersion of NDs in PLA matrix The ND/PLA composite nanofiber membranes with improved mechanical properties possess potential application in biomedical engineering
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