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 (TiO ₂ ) nanofibrous membranes can be obtained by electrospinning the PVA solution and PVA/TiO ₂ hybrid sol with different TiO ₂ 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° as the TiO ₂ content increased. The AFM, EDX and TEM analysis indicate that the wettability of PVAc/TiO ₂ hybrid nanofibers was mainly improved by surface roughness and surface hydrophilic groups.