A Comparative Study of Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) Ultrafine Fibrous Porous Membranes Prepared by Electrospinning, Solution Blowing Spinning, and Electroblown Spinning

Abstract

Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) fiber is a kind of high-performance fiber, which shows excellent performances and has been widely used in many fields. In this study, PTFE nanofiber membranes were prepared by electrospinning, solution blowing spinning (SBS), and electroblown spinning (EBS). Compared with other methods, the EBS method was more successful in producing excellent flexible, uniform, and continuous PTFE nanofiber membranes, with a mean diameter of approximately 414.54 nm, which was lower than the traditional electrospinning and SBS PTFE fiber diameters, 785.27 and 446.03 nm, respectively, and the diameter distribution of the EBS fiber was more uniform. The EBS PTFE fiber mat with a pore size of 0.74 µm was obtained, which was smaller than the traditional electrospinning (1.58 µm) and SBS (0.90 µm). The lower fiber diameter, smaller pore size, and better hydrophobicity made the EBS PTFE fiber mat more fit for thermal filtration and other applications compared with the electrospinning and SBS one.