Electrospun rubber/thermoplastic hybrid nanofibers for localized toughening effects in epoxy resins

Synthetic rubber/thermoplastic blends were electrospun from their solutions. The rubber was a solid acrylonitrile/butadiene/acrylic acid copolymer and the thermoplastic was polyacrylonitrile. The aims of this study were to identify suitable systems and processing conditions for obtaining rubber-based electrospun nanofibers, to investigate the ability of an epoxy resin system to impregnate and swell selected hybrid rubber/thermoplastic mats, and to assess the impact of the nanofibers on the resin morphology and curing behavior. In particular, electrospinning trials were carried out varying the composition of the feed solution and process parameters, such as the applied voltage, the flow rate…