Preparation and characterization of core-shell nanofibers by electrospinning combined with in situ UV photopolymerization

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of preparation of core-shell nanofibers by electrospinning combined with in situ UV photopolymerization. The thiol-ene monomer with Si atom and the initiator can migrate to the surface with the evaporation of the solvent during the process of electrospinning, which caused phase separation due to the great migration ability of small molecule and low surface energy. Then photo induced polymerization and cross-linking reaction took place simultaneously during the electrospinning process, which formed shell of the nanofibers. The morphology and structure of electrospun nanofibers were investigated by SEM and TEM. The composition of the shell layer was determined by ATR-IR and XPS. Moreover, the nanofiber mats were tested by WCA test, and the hydrophobic ability of PVP nanofibers was improved because of the protection of the shell layer with Si atom. The most important thing is that the technology which combined electrospinning with in situ photopolymerization provides a simple method for preparation of core-shell nanofibers.

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