Point-bonded electrospun polystyrene fibrous mats fabricated via the addition of poly(butylacrylate) adhesive

Because of poor mechanical strength, applications of electrospun polystyrene (PS) fibrous mats are quite limited. The introduction of various concentrations of poly (butylacrylate) adhesives (PBAs) into PS solutions led to the fabrication of point-bonded electrospun PS fibrous mats with good mechanical strength. The morphologies of PS/PBA fibers with varying PBA content (0-50 wt%) were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the results were compared with pure PS and PBA fibers fabricated with various solvents. SEM images indicated that point-bonded PS/PBA fibers were uniformly distributed with an average diameter of 1-2 μm. On increasing concentration of PBA up to 20 wt%, porous PS/PBA fibrous mats were obtained. However, solid films were formed at very high concentrations of PBA. The Young's modulus and tensile strength of PS/PBA fibrous mats increased up to 52.4 and 2.7 MPa, respectively. The resultant enhancement of the mechanical properties of PS fibrous mats on addition of PBA increases the number of potential applications of these materials.