Efficient Synthesis of PVDF/PI Side-by-Side Bicomponent Nanofiber Membrane with Enhanced Mechanical Strength and Good Thermal Stability

Bicomponent composite fibers, due to their unique versatility, have attracted great attention in many fields, such as filtration, energy, and bioengineering. Herein, we efficiently fabricated polyvinylidene fluoride/polyimide (PVDF/PI) side-by-side bicomponent nanofibers based on electrospinning, which resulted in the synergism between PVDF and PI, and eventually obtained the effect of 1 + 1 > 2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the morphology and chemical structure of nanofibers, indicating that a large number of side-by-side nanofibers were successfully prepared. Further, the thermal stability, mechanical strength, and filtration properties of PVDF/PI were carefully investigated. The results revealed that the bicomponent nanofibers possessed both good mechanical strength and remarkable thermal stability. Moreover, the mechanical properties of PVDF/ PI were strengthened by more than twice after the heat treatment (7.28 MPa at 25 °C, 15.49 MPa at 230 °C). Simultaneously, after the heat treatment at 230 °C for 30 min, the filtration efficiency of PVDF/PI membrane was maintained at about 95.45 ± 1.09%, and the pressure drop was relatively low. Therefore, the prepared PVDF/PI side-by-side bicomponent nanofibers have a favorable prospect of application in the field of medium- and high-temperature filtration, which further expands the application range of electrospun fiber membranes.