Tensile Properties of Composite Reinforced with Three-Dimensional Printed Fibers

Abstract

This study used melt-electrospinning writing to fabricate three-dimensional fiber constructs by embedding them in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to obtain thin composite films. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to demonstrate an interaction between the polycaprolactone (PCL) fibrous phase and the PVA matrix phase. Following this, the mechanical deformation behavior of the composite was investigated, and the effect of reinforcement with three-dimensional fibrous constructs was illustrated. The specific strength of the composite was found to be five times higher than the specific strength of the neat PVA matrix. Additionally, the specific toughness of the composite was determined to be roughly four times higher than the specific toughness determined for the neat PVA matrix. These results demonstrate the potential of using melt-electrospinning writing for producing three-dimensional fibrous constructs for composite reinforcement purposes.

Helicoidally Arranged Polyacrylonitrile Fiber-Reinforced Strong and Impact-Resistant Thin Polyvinyl Alcohol Film Enabled by Electrospinning-Based Additive Manufacturing

“…Nevertheless, they displayed substantial enhancement of specific tensile strength in comparison to the PVA TF and PVA SPTF-RO samples. The calculated value of specific tensile strength of the PVA SPTF is found to be comparable (same order of magnitude) to the data available in the literature for different PVA composites [48,56,72,73] and other types of polymer composites [11,72,74,75]. For instance, Ding et al [72] prepared PVA hydrogels with 2 wt% of PVA, 0.4 wt% borax (PB) and cellulose nanofibers-polypyrrole (CNFs-PPy/PB) and compared it with hydrogel synthesized in the absence of polypyrrole (CNF/PB).…”

“…The size of the thin film is also governed by the size of the fibers or particles added to improve its mechanical properties. Therefore, helicoidally arranged polyacrylonitrile sub-microfibers were used for reinforcing PVA to improve its mechanical properties [ 48 , 56 ]. Further, polyacrylonitrile filler sub-microfibers were used for reinforcing PVA due to their high Young’s modulus (∼3.1 GPa) [ 57 ] and compatibility with PVA.…”

Polymers for Melt Electrowriting

“…As PCL is highlighted in several reviews on clinical translation of tissue engineering products, the transition from university-led research to application in the clinic is often negatively impacted by the need to repeat experiments with medical-grade polymers. In this instance, our understand- Measured as M w = 80 kDa [31] [ 11,16,12,20,[22][23][24]26, Sigma Aldrich Product number 440744 [46] M n = 80 × 10 3 [ 5,21,56,57] M n = 35 × 10 3 M w = 83 × 10 3 [ 13] M w = 45 kDa [58][59][60] M n = 45 × 10 3 [ 61] [ 5,13,21,[56][57][58][59][60][61] Capa 6400 M w ≈ 37 × 10 3 a) MFI = 40 b) [ 62,63] Capa 6430…”

“…This is one approach to shift the biofabrication window to softer hydrogels and matrices while retaining handling or biomechanical requirements. [35,38,42,57] Such composite approaches, reinforcing MEW-fabricated PCL scaffolds into hydrogels that include gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA), show promising results regarding the stiffness increasing by up to 54-fold. [42] In this fiber-reinforced composite study, embedded human chondrocytes showed good viability and retained their roundish morphology, showing compatibility in terms of stiffness and biological cues for cartilage applications.…”

“…To further improve and investigate the reinforcement mechanism behind the composite PCL/GelMA structures, the composites were tested under axial compression to obtain more in detail insights into the deformation process, which can help further planning for designs of the embedded MEW scaffolds. [35] Agarwal et al [57] also embedded PCL scaffolds within a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix resulting in hybrid films with improved mechanical stability. Finally, to provide 3D neuronal cell culture models with a weak matrix microenvironment closer to the native tissue, MEW fabricated scaffolds were embedded into Matrigel.…”