Water-born 3D nanofiber mats using cost-effective centrifugal spinning: comparison with electrospinning process: A complex study

A comparison of the electrostatic and centrifugal spinning of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) is shown in terms of the resulting fiber morphology and the process conditions. Specific parameters of centrifugal spinning, such rotational speed of spinneret and the relative humidity, were extensively investigated in details. Morphologies and diameters of resulting fiber mats were investigated by a scanning electron microscopy and compared between the two spinning techniques. The results revealed that formation of fibers is mainly affected by the initial polymer concentrations (and resulting viscosities) of polymeric solutions, which is in line with previous reports. However, the key novel finding of this work is that increasing relative humidity during centrifugal spinning process leads to greatly reduced fiber diameters to the levels typical for electrospinning. The obtained comparison is discussed and clearly shows technological advantages of the centrifugal spinning over electrospinning, enabling quantitative production of fibers with same or similar diameters.