Effect of Inorganic/Organic Hybrid on the Wettability of Polymer Nanofibrous Membranes

We report a new approach for improving the wettability of a poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) nanofiber membrane. The pure PVAc and hybrid PVAc/titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanofibrous membranes can be obtained by electrospinning the PVA solution and PVA/TiO2 hybrid sol with different TiO2 contents, respectively. The resultant samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen volumetric adsorption apparatus (NVAA), water contact angle (WCA), atomic force microscopy (AFM) energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). It was found that the WCA of composite fibrous membranes was decreased from 109 to 36 degrees as the TiO2 content increased. The AFM, EDX and TEM analysis indicate that the wettability of PVAc/TiO2 hybrid nanofibers was mainly improved by surface roughness and surface hydrophilic groups.