Morphology and moisture-retaining property of post hybridized membrane of electrospun PVA nanofibers

The PVA nanofibers with diameter about 200 nm were prepared by electrospinning, and the hybridized membrane was prepared with the PVA nanofibers and tetraethyl orthosiliconte (TEOS) by the sol-gel method. Different membranes were made by controlling the hybridization reaction time. FTIR showed that the hydroxyl goup in PVA condensed with the hydrolysate of TEOS. FESEM result indicated that the diameter of the hybrid fibers increased and the interspace of hybrid fibers were gradually filled in by SiO₂ with increasing reaction time. Mechanical testing result indicated that the tensile strength of the hybrid membrane could be increased by filling in a little SiO₂. The moisture-retaining property of the hybrid membrane became better with longer hybridization reaction time.