Toughened electrospun nanofibers from crosslinked elastomer-thermoplastic blends

A crosslink-able elastomeric polyester urethane (PEU) was blended with a thermoplastic, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and electrospun into nanofibres. The effects of the PEU/PAN ratio and the crosslinking reaction on the morphology and the tensile properties of the as-spun fibre mats were investigated. With the same overall polymer concentration (9 wt %), the nanofibre containing higher composition of PEU shows a slight decrease in the average fibre diameter, but the tensile strength, the elongation at break and tensile modulus of the nanofibre mats are all improved. These tensile properties are further enhanced by slight crosslinking of the PEU component within the nanofibres.

Applications of electrospun nanofibers

Polymeric nanofiber non-woven materials produced by electrospinning have extremely high surface-to-mass (or volume) ratio and a porous structure with excellent pore-interconnectivity. These characteristics plus the functionalities and surface chemistry of the polymer itself impart the nanofibers with desirable properties for a range of advanced applications. This review summarizes the recent progress in electrospun nanofibers, with an emphasis on their applications.

Electrospun single-walled carbon nanotube/polyvinyl alcohol composite nanofibers : structure-property relationships

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers and single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)/PVA composite nanofibers have been produced by electrospinning. An apparent increase in the PVA crystallinity with a concomitant change in its main crystalline phase and a reduction in the crystalline domain size were observed in the SWNT/PVA composite nanofibers, indicating the occurrence of a SWNT-induced nucleation crystallization of the PVA phase. Both the pure PVA and SWNT/PVA composite nanofibers were subjected to the following post-electrospinning treatments: (i) soaking in methanol to increase the PVA crystallinity, and (ii) cross-linking with glutaric dialdehyde to control the PVA morphology. Effects of the PVA morphology on the tensile properties of the resultant electrospun nanofibers were examined. Dynamic mechanical thermal analyses of both pure PVA and SWNT/PVA composite electrospun nanofibers indicated that SWNT–polymer interaction facilitated the formation of crystalline domains, which can be further enhanced by soaking the nanofiber in methanol and/or cross-linking the polymer with glutaric dialdehyde.

Morphological evolution of nanofibers during electrospinning

Electrospinning is a very useful technique to produce polymeric nanofibers. It involves fast-drawing a polymer fluid into nanofibers under a strong electric filed, and depositing randomly on an electrode collector to form non-woven nanofiber mat in most cases [1]. The fibre stretching during electrospinning is a fast and incessant process which can be divided into three consecutive stages: jet initiation, whipping instability and fibre deposition. From the initial jet to dry fibres, the fibre stretching takes place in milliseconds, so it has been hardly so far to observe fiber morphology changes by any normal methods, such as high speed photography [2-5]. In this study, we used a facile and practical approach to realize the observation of nanofiber morphology changes during electrospinning. Through a special collection device with coagulation bath, newly electrospun nanofibers can be solidified at different electro spinning distances, and by associating the fiber morphology with the electrospinning distance (d), the morphological evolution of nanofibers can be established. We used polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polystyrene (PS) as two model polymers to demonstrate this method in present research. From experimental results, we found the massive jet-thinning happens at the initial stage of the process. The formation of uniform PAN nanofibers (7%) and the beads structure changes on beads-on-string PAN nanofibers (5%) have also been successful observed. Using the same method, we also observed PS nanofiber (10%) morphology changes to understand the beads formation 011 nanofibers during electrospinning process, and how the beads was eliminated when ionic surfactant is added into the PS solution for electrospinning.

Needleless Electrospinning of nanofibers with a conical wire coil

In this article, we have demonstrated a novel needleless electrospinning of PVA nanofibers by using a conical metal wire-coil as spinneret. Multiple polymer jets were observed to generate on the coil surface. Up to 70 kV electric voltage can be applied to this needleless electrospinning nozzle without causing corona discharge. Compared with conventional needle electrospinning, this needleless electrospinning system produced finer nanofibers on a much larger scale, and the fiber processing ability showed a much greater dependence on the applied voltage. Finite element calculation indicates that the electric field intensity profiles for the two systems are also quite different. This novel concept of using wire coil as the electrospinning nozzle will contribute to the further development of new large-scale needleless electrospinning system for nanofiber production.

Highly fluorescent TPA-PBPV nanofibers with amplified sensory response to TNT

Well-aligned nanofibers were prepared from a conjugated polymer, poly(triphenylamine-alt-biphenylene vinylene) (TPA-PBPV), using a solution-assisted template wetting technique. TPA-PBPV was also coated on the surface of electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber nonwoven membrane. The extremely large surface area, highly porous fibrous structure, optical scattering and evanescent-wave guiding effect imparted these one-dimensional (1D) nanofibrous materials with highly improved sensory ability to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) vapors and higher quenching efficiency than that of the neat TPA-PBPV films. The results suggest that nanofibrous structures could be a promising strategy to improve the sensory efficiency of fluorescent chemosensors.

Large-scale electrospinning of polymer nanofibers using needleless nozzle

In this study, we have demonstrated that a rotating metal wire coil can be used as a nozzle to electrospin nanofibers on a large-scale. Without using any needles, the rotating wire coil, partially immersed in a polymer solution reservoir, can pick up a thin layer of charged polymer solution and generate a large number of nanofibers from the wire surface simultaneously. This arrangement significantly increases the nanofiber productivity. The fiber productivity was found to be determined by the coil dimensions, applied voltage and polymer concentration. The dependency of fiber diameter on the polymer concentration showed a similar trend to that for a conventional electrospinning system using a syringe needle nozzle, but the coil electrospun fibers were thinner with narrower diameter distribution. The profiles of electric field strength in the coil electrospinning was calculated and showed concentrated electric field intensity on the wire surface.

Recent developments in electrospinning of nanofibers and nanofiber yarns

Electropsipinning is a simple, but efficient and versatile, technology to produce polymeric nanofibers for diverse applications in both textile and non-textile areas. In this paper, recent research developments in electrospinning and electrospun nanofibers, especially thaose from the Centre for Material and Fiber Innovation, Deakin University, are introduced. Important findings on needleless mass-electrospinning and direct electrospinning of highly-twisted continuous manfiber yarns are presented.

Synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles and titanium oxide nanofibers : toward multifibrous nanocomposites

A new method was investigated to produce new multiscale fibrous nanocomposites comprised of titanium oxide (TiO₂) nanofibers and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs). The process involved electrospinning TiO₂ precursor solution containing colloidal solution of Ag NPs, and organic solvent (dimethyl-n′n-formamide) to fabricate a porous, nonwoven, free-standing nanofiber mesh. Postprocess heating of the electrospun nanofibers entailed calcination in air environment at 500°C for 3 h. Microemulsion processing was used to generate NPs of Ag in a monodispersed distribution throughout the colloidal solution. X-ray diffraction data were consistent with the anatase phase of TiO2, while transmission electron microscopy and hydrogen desorption measurements revealed a very porous microstructure. It was demonstrated that NP colloidal stability is solvent dependent. It is anticipated that incorporation of metal particles in nanofibers will lead to enhanced photocurrent generation, when used in functional devices.

Wire coil needleless electrospinning of polymer nanofibers

Elcctrospinning is a very useful technique to produce polymeric nanofibers for diverse applications. The conventional needle-based electrospinning system has VCIY limited fiber productivity and a key challenge has been to develop electrospinning systems that can produce uniform nanofibcrs on a large scale l-3.
In this study, we have demonstrated that a rotating metal wire coil can be used as a nozzle to eiectrospin nanofibers on a large-scale. Without using any needles, the rotating wire coil, partially immersed in a polymer solution reservoir, can pick up a thin layer of charged polymer solution and generate a large number of nanofibers from the wire surface simultaneously. This arrangement significantly increases the nanofiber productivity.
The fiber productivity was found to be determined by the coil dimensions, such as wire diameter, coil radius and distance, and coil length. The effects of applied voltage, the distance bctv,lcen the coil nozzle and collector, and polymer concentration on the fiber
morphology were examined. The dependency of fiber diameter on the polymer concentration showed a similar trend to that for a conventional electrospinning system using a syringe needle nozzle, but the diameter distribution was narrower for the
coil electrospun fibers.
The profiles of electric fIeld strength in coil electrospinning was calculated and showed
concentrated electrical field intensity on the top wire surface. This novel concept of using wire coil as the electrospinning nozzle will contribute to the further development of new large-scale needleless electrospinning systems for nanofiber production.

Functional applications of electrospun nanofibers

With the rapid development of nanoscience and nanotechnology over the last two decades, great progress has been made not only in preparation and characterization of nanomaterials, but also in their functional applications. As an important one-dimensional nanomaterial, nanofibers have extremely high specific surface area because of their small diameters, and nanofiber membranes are highly porous with excellent pore interconnectivity. These unique characteristics plus the functionalities from the polymers themselves impart nanofibers with many desirable properties for advanced applications.

Shear-enhanced solution precipitation : a simple process to produce short polymeric nanofibers

The growing interest in polymeric nanofibers has been increasing the push for the development of simple and efficient nanofiber-preparation techniques. We herein describe how a conventional solution process is readapted to suit the needs for fast and efficient production of short polymeric nanofibers. Poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (PEAA), a semi-crystalline polymer, was used as model. When a PEAA solution was injected into an alcoholic non-solvent while simultaneously applying high shear to the non-solvent system, PEAA nanofibers were obtained with average diameter as thin as 113 nm and length as short as 4.5 _m. The fiber diameter and length were also adjustable by varying the operating parameters. This one-step technique advances the currently available nanofabrication tools by adjusting a widely accepted concept to the nano-scale. It may constitute a viable method for large-scale production of short polymeric nanofibers.