The influence of electrospinning parameters on the structural morphology and diameter of electrospun nanofibers |
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Authors: | Valencia Jacobs Rajesh D. Anandjiwala Malik Maaza |
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Affiliation: | 1. CSIR Materials Science and Manufacturing, Nonwovens and Composites Group, Polymers and Composites Competence Area, P.O. Box 1124, Port Elizabeth 6000, South Africa;2. Faculty of Science, Department of Textile Science, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa;3. Ithemba Laboratories, Materials Research Group, P.O. Box 722, Somerset West 7129, South Africa |
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Abstract: | Electrospinning is a simple method of producing nanofibers by introducing electric field into the polymer solutions. We report an experimental investigation on the influence of processing parameters and solution properties on the structural morphology and average fiber diameter of electrospun poly ethylene oxide (PEO) polymer solution. Experimental trials have been conducted to investigate the effect of solution parameters, such as concentration, molecular weight, addition of polyelectrolyte in PEO solution, solvent effect, as well as governing parameter, such as applied voltage. The concentration of the aqueous PEO solution has shown noteworthy influence on the fiber diameter and structural morphology of electrospun nanofibers. At lower concentrations of PEO polymer solution, the fibers showed irregular morphology with large variations in fiber diameter, whereas at higher concentrations, the nanofibers with regular morphology and on average uniform fiber diameter were obtained. We find that the addition of polyelectrolytes, such as sodium salt of Poly acrylic acid (PAA) and Poly allylamine hydrochloride (PAH), increases the conductivity of PEO solutions and thereby decreases the bead formation in electrospun nanofibers. The increase in applied voltage has been found to affect the structural morphology of nanofiber while the addition of ethanol in PEO solution diminishes the bead defects. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 |
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Keywords: | polyelectrolyte solution properties structure electrospinning nanofibers |
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