Continuous aligned poly(meta‐phenylene isophthalamide) fibers via stable jet electrospinning

Abstract

ABSTRACTContinuous aligned poly(meta‐phenylene isophthalamide) (PMIA) fibers are first fabricated by Stable Jet Electrospinning (SJES) with a collection distance of 15 cm. The unfolded length of every single fiber is calculated to be several hundred to several thousand meters. Morphology analysis by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) shows that these fibers are well arranged and uniformly distributed and their average fiber diameters decrease gradually with increasing collection speed. The effects of ambient temperature and humidity on the duration of stable jet are also discussed. Moderate temperatures and humidity are preferred for fabricating PMIA fibers with ultra‐long size. Besides, the changes of the thermal and crystalline properties of PMIA fibers are also investigated. The significant decline in crystallinity should be responsible for its decreased thermal property. Further improvements to its thermal and crystalline performance must be given consideration in future applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43690.