TECHNOLOGY FOR OBTAINING OF ULTRAFINE NONWOVEN MATERIALS BASED ON POLYMER COMPOSITIONS WITH CHITOSAN

Abstract

The  aim  of  the  scientific  work  is  to  develop  a  technology  for  obtaining  of  ultrafine nonwoven  materials  based  on  a  polymer  composition  of  polyvinyl  alcohol  and  polyvinyl  acetate  with  the
addition of chitosan, which was dissolved in lactic and acetic acids.
Methodology. To assess the characteristics of the compositions, the viscosity and surface tension of working solutions were determined by capillary viscometry, and electrical conductivity - by conductometric
method.  The  effect  of  thermal  stabilization  of  materials  based  on  chitosan  was  investigated  using  their sorption  properties.  The  morphological  composition  of  nonwovens  was  investigated  by  the  method  of scanning electron microscopy. Findings.  A  technology  has  been  developed  for  the  obtaining  of  ultrafine  materials  based  on
chitosan dissolved in lactic and acetic acids by the method of electrospinning. The parameters for obtaining fibers from the studied compositions were determined. As a result of the analysis of the obtained ultrafine nonwoven  materials  by  the  method  of  scanning  electron  microscopy,  it  was  found  that  with  a  voltage between  the  electrodes  of  30  kV,  fibers  with  a  diameter  of  0.3  to  0.9  μm  are obtained.  According  to the statistical distribution of the diameters of polymer fibers in ultrafine nonwoven materials, it was determined that, depending on the components of the composition, 72-77% of the fibers have a diameter of 0.3 μm. Originality.  The  scientific  novelty  of  the  work  lies  in  the  determination  of  the  basic  laws  of  the electrospinning process using the natural polymer of chitosan and the peculiarities of the preparation of its solutions  in  lactic  and  acetic  acids.  The  effect  of  viscosity,  surface  tension  and  electrical  conductivity  of working solutions of the compositions on the process of electrospinning has been established.
Practical value. Technological parameters for the obtaining of ultrafine nonwoven materials based on  the  composition  of  polyvinyl  alcohol  and  polyvinyl  acetate  with  the  addition  of  chitosan  have  been
developed by the method of electrospinning; the possibility of adjusting the fiber diameter by choosing a chitosan solvent has been determined.