Difference in appearance of electrospun nanofiber sheet
Uptil now I have electrospun 2 synthetic polymers with good results, Polystyrene(solvent-DMF) and Polyvinyl alcohol (solvent- Water).
I used the same processing parameters for both. The obtained polystyrene nanofiber sheet are like powder when you touch them, after drying they are like a stiff film which is very fragile, cracks easily, hence can not be peeled off. On the other hand, Polyvinylalcohol is quite different, the nanofibers are like a film even before drying, flexible, easy to peel off and not fragile at all. I have attached a pic of the two, the one on the right is PS and the one on the left is PVA.
My aim is to get a flexible film like nanofiber sheet (as PVA), but I need it to be hydrophobic, i tried PS but that was not flexible at all, I have two questions:
1) Is there anyway I can get a similar peelable film of PS? People who have experience with PS and have obtained something similar can answer this....
2) Again from experience can anyone suggest a hydrophobic polymer that gives a fexible peelable like nanrofiber sheet.
Thank You.
you can try with polyacrylonitrile its gives you flexible and peal-able film. the breaking nature may be due to PS nature like molecular weight (MW) if your MW is less it may spinnable but it doesn't have strength, this tends to break. check the PS fibre nature and formation of beads.
Dear Aisha,
The most confusing part of your question for me is that you used the same processing parameters for both solutions. I suggest you to play a lot with your parameters (voltage, distance tip/collector, solution feeding rate, concentration of PS, and so on) in order to produce proper mat. I saw PS fibers produced by my supervisor few years ago. They were easy to peal off and have really good mechanical properties. I can try to ask him about the process, but it was a long time ago...
Best regards,
Michał W.
Thanx for the suggestion everyone.
Michal, for PS i have played with atleast 5 parameters but the resulting fibers are always the same (fragile). I mentioned that I used the same parameters for both in order to rule out the suggestion of using similar parameters.
Dear Aisha,
PAN based nanofiber would have your needed characteristics. However, you can get appropriate results with PS if you work on solution properties particularly concentration. I suggest you to increase polymer concentration, if you have not tried it yet.
in my opinion you have to think about tow parameters humidity and temperature with this tow you can change every thing for you nanofiber properties .
Thanx Mahmoud, I have already played with the temperature but unfortunately my machine doesnt have a humidity control option and the design is such that it is difficult to control the humidity otherwise.
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