Behavior of melt electrospinning/blowing for polypropylene fiber fabrication

Abstract

AbstractThe fabrication process of polymer fibers has been analyzed in various ways, and several studies have been conducted to develop new processes and optimize existing ones. Several studies have been conducted on the electrospinning process, which can easily fabricate nanofibers, and the development of materials manufactured through electrospinning has also been investigated. However, research on the nanofiber fabrication and processing of thermoplastic polymers, such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate, is relatively lacking. Therefore, research on nanofiber fabrication is essential. In this study, PP fibers were successfully manufactured through a melt electrospinning/blowing process, which combined melt blowing and electrospinning. To analyze the melt electrospinning/blowing process, the dynamic behavior of the spinning process was observed using a charge‐coupled device camera in real time, and the effects of the different spinning conditions were compared and analyzed. As the hot air or high voltage was increased, the spinning jet area tended to increase. In addition, the average diameter of the fabricated fibers tended to decrease as a high voltage was applied at a hot air pressure of 0.01 MPa; conversely, the average diameter tended to increase at a hot air pressure of 0.03 MPa. A similar trend was observed for the tensile stresses in the PP web fabrics. The polymer fibers produced by this melt electrospinning/blowing process can be applied as a production process for nanomembranes, filters and battery separators. © 2022 Society of Industrial Chemistry.