Aligned electrospun cellulose fibers reinforced epoxy resin composite films with high visible light transmittance

Uniaxially oriented cellulose nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning on a rotating cylinder collector. The fiber angular standard deviation (a parameter of fiber orientation) of the mats was varied from 65.6 to 26.2o by adjusting the rotational speed of the collector. Optically transparent epoxy resin composite films reinforced with the electrospun cellulose nanofibrous mats were then prepared by the solution impregnation method. The fiber content in the composite films was in the range of 5–30 wt%. Scanning electron microscopy studies showed that epoxy resin infiltrated and completely filled the pores in the mats. Indistinct epoxy/fiber interfaces, epoxy beads adhering on the fiber surfaces, and torn fiber remnants were found on the fractured composite film surfaces, indicating that the epoxy resin and cellulose fibers formed good interfacial adherence through hydrogen-bonding interaction. In the visible light range, the light transmittance was 88–92% for composite films with fiber loadings of 16–32 wt%. Compared to the composite films reinforced with 20 wt% randomly oriented fibers, the mechanical strength and Young’s modulus of the composite films reinforced with same amount of aligned fibers increased by 71 and 61%, respectively. Dynamical mechanical analysis showed that the storage moduli of the composite films were greatly reinforced in the temperature above the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resin matrix.