Hey guys,
I tried electrospinning PLA nanofibers on aluminium foil. I was able to achieve thicker fibers by increasing the viscosity of the solution. However, the fibers stick to the aluminium foil firmly and don't separate as single-standing fiber strands at all.
I used microscope slides on top of the aluminium foil to collect some fibers and characterize them. The other fibers were still stuck to the aluminium foil.
Someone suggested using Baking paper instead of aluminium foil but the drawback with the electrospinning technique is that the substrate should be conducting in nature and cannot use a non-conductive substrate.
Any suggestions or advice will be highly appreciated. Please help.
Thanks.
Hello Hariharan S Melarcode ,
for removing polymer samples, which stick to rheological measurement tools or also glasware in a synthesis lab, I sometimes cool down the things (usually with some liquid nitrogen). The polymer itself gets more brittle while cool and (maybe related to a differrent thermal contraction compared to the thing it sticks to and thus a loss of contact) comes off quite easily. Maybe this can also help you with removing your fibers.
When receiving electrospinned materials on foil, it is important to achieve a sufficiently dense layer, then it will easily separate from the foil itself. If this does not happen, you can moisten the mat with ethyl alcohol, it is easily wetted and literally slips off the foil, but in some cases this can affect the structure of the polymer.
I already observed this phenomenon, it might be caused by semi evaporation of solvent especially for first electrsospun jet. Bakerpaper covering your aluminium foil can solve the problem, or adjustment of processing.
A+ Nabyl
I also used microscope slides on top of the aluminium foil to collect fibers for characterization. Other way is to put the aluminium foil in vacum oven after electrospinning to evaporate the residual solvent, or put it in an open environment for several hours. Then it will be easy to remove fibers or membrane.
Placing the electrospun aluminium foil in the vacuum oven or keeping it in an open environment for several hours is a good idea Muhammad Kashif. I tried both but was unable to separate my fibres from the aluminium foil. So, I used a coated aluminum foil which helped me separate my electrospun fibres easily. Thanks for your timely advice and suggestion though. This may help others as well if they need it.
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