Impact-resistant membranes from electrospun fibers with a shear-thickening core

Abstract Shear thickening fluid (STF) has great application potentials in the development of soft armors due to their unique properties. In this present study, the coaxial electrospinning method was used for the first time, using STF as the core of the composite fiber and polyketone (PK) as the sheath to fabricate a soft, foldable and impact-resistant fiber membrane with a mesh structure. The morphology, structure, chemical components, and impact resistance of the fiber membrane were characterized in detail. A core/shell structure was observed in the fiber cross section clearly. The impact resistance of the composite fibers (core to sheath ratio = 1:4, STF content = 46.2%), was about 33.3% higher than that of pure PK fibers without a core. When only one layer of the composite fibers (areal density = 60 g/m2) was added as an interlayer to two layers of aramid 1414 fibers, the impact resistance of the fabric increased by 18.8%. When spray coating resin was used in combination with only one layer of the composite fibers (areal density = 60 g/m2), the impact resistance of the fabric was enhanced by 27.8%. Therefore, the resultant fiber membrane has broad application prospects as an impact protection material.