Development of Multiscale Composite with Hybrid Natural Nanofibers

Natural nanofibers are widely used in the field of medicine, but the low strength of these nanofibers is one of the major concerns. A number of factors, importantly the composition, affect the strength of natural nanofibers. The purpose of the current study is to ascertain the effect of the composition of natural nanofibers on the strength of hybrid composites formed using these nanofibers. Hybrid composites formed using 32% volume glass fibre with optimized volume fraction of 0.5% of pure Cellulose Acetate (CA), and 0.5% CA + Hemp Seed (HS) for this study to carry out the analysis. Hybrid composites were produced with vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) by collecting natural nanofibers, produced using the electrospinning process, over glass fiber mats. The electrospinning process was carried out with 12 kV, 10 cm tip to the collector gap, and 12% concentration of the solution. The tensile strength of the hybrid composites was measured using the universal testing machine (UTM). The results showed that the diameter of the electrospun nanofiber varied between 50 and 1400 nm and was affected by solution concentration, voltage, tip-to-collector distance, flow rate, and inclusion of HS in CA. The inclusion of HS in CA, for all compositions, decreased the fiber diameter and caused the formation of beads prominently at higher concentrations. Hybrid composites formed from nanofibers produced using CA and HS showed higher elastic modulus (232 MPa) and tensile strength (20.4 GPa) as compared with nanofibers produced using CA only (elastic modulus = 110 MPa and 13.7 GPa).