Paper Title
Preparation and Characterization of Peg-Modified Sepiolite/Pva Nanofiber Nanocomposite Mats
Abstract
In this study, sepiolite was modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and PEG-modified sepiolite/PVA nanofiber
nanocomposite mats were fabricated by electrospinning method. Fabricated PEG-modified sepiolite/PVA nanofiber
nanocomposite mats were characterized and compared to neat PVA nanofiber mats as controls. Structures and composition
of the mat samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Thermogravimetric analyses
(TGA) were used to determine the thermal stability of the samples. TGA showed that incorporation of modified sepiolite
into the structure of PVA nanofiber mats was improved the thermal stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images
were used to observe morphological properties of the samples. Mechanical tests showed that PEG-modified sepiolite
reinforcement to the PVA nanofiber structure increases elastic modulus of nanofiber mats.
Keywords- PVA; sepiolite; nanocomposite; electrospinning; nanofibers