Preparation of nanofibers with controlled phase morphology from electrospinning of polybutadiene-polycarbonate blends

This work focused on the internal morphology of nanofibers prepared by electrospinning polymer blends. Nanofibers of polybutadiene (PB)/polycarbonate (PC) blends were electrospun from polymer solutions. The composition ratio, molecular weight, and solvent type were changed to investigate how these factors affected the resulting phase morphology within the nanofiber. Co-continuous and core-sheath structures were observed by TEM. For PB/PC composition ratios above 25/75 weight percent, co-continuous morphologies were found, while core sheath morphologies were seen for composition ratios of PB/PC blends below 25/75. The molecular weight of both the polycarbonate and the polybutadiene had a significant effect on the phase morphology. Electrospinning of polymer blends offers the potential to prepare unique morphologies for use in a variety of applications.