Electrospun rubbery nanofibers: effect of crosslinking on their morphology and properties

Composite materials possess many outstanding properties, including light weight, high strength-to-weight ratio and mechanical properties, that make them excellent candidates as replacements for metals in many structural applications. However, laminates suffer from some intrinsic weaknesses, like poor delamination resistance, which causes the detachment of adjacent laminae and thus mechanical failure, and low damping ability. The present work focuses on the production of a high elastomeric content membrane that, once integrated into the laminate, will increase its interlaminar fracture toughness and the damping capacity of the material itself, increasing its safety and service life. The membranes are produced via electrospinning of polymeric blends and their characterization consists of a morphological analysis with SEM, also performed after washing to selectively remove one component of the blend, thermal analysis with DSC and TGA, and mechanical one through tensile tests with a universal testing machine.