Enhanced mechanical properties and pre-tension effects of polyurethane (PU) nanofiber filaments prepared by electrospinning and dry twisting

We studied the mechanical properties of polyurethane (PU) nanofiber filaments prepared by electrospinning and dry twisting, and compared them with those of the corresponding nonwoven PU nanofiber webs. The morphologies and mechanical properties of the nonwoven PU nanofiber webs and the corresponding PU nanofiber filaments were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and through the use of a universal testing machine (UTM), respectively. The tensile strength and the Young's modulus of the nanofiber filaments improved dramatically as the number of twists or the width of the nanofiber webs was increased compared with the nonwoven PU nanofibers. Moreover, it wasfound that applying pre-tension was an effective method of increasing the mechanical properties of PU nanofiber filaments.