Electro-spinning of highly-aligned polyacrylonitrile nano-fibres with continuous spooling

Siheng Shao,Tao Ma,Gerard F Fernando

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-99890-w

Abstract

This paper reports on a new configuration for producing highly-aligned electro-spun fibres that can be produced on a static substrate or one where it is hauled off and spooled continuously to enable the production of continuous lengths. The fixture consists of a Vee-shaped polytetrafluorethylene shield at 60° with a 1 cm wide integral rectangular base that is mounted on a copper disk with a 10 cm diameter. Specified concentrations of polyacrylonitrile in dimethyl sulfoxide were electro-spun on to a strip of cellulose paper. In the static setup, approximately 91% of the fibres were deposited to within 3°. When the spooling rig was used, a tape of the cellulose paper was hauled off at 0.07 mm/min, 78% of the fibres were aligned to within 3°. Simulations of the conventional and Vee-shield electro-spinning setups were undertaken and they provided corroboration for the experimental observations with regard to the mechanism responsible for fibre alignment. The feasibility of using this technique to produce 0°/− 45°/+ 45° stacked layers of aligned fibre preform is demonstrated.

Highlights

This paper reports on a new configuration for producing highly-aligned electro-spun fibres that can be produced on a static substrate or one where it is hauled off and spooled continuously to enable the production of continuous lengths
We report on a new technique for manufacturing highly-aligned PAN nano-fibres using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent
The shear viscosity of the polymer solutions at 55 °C showed an exponential increase after the PAN concentration was above 6 wt/vol% in DMSO

Summary

Introduction

This paper reports on a new configuration for producing highly-aligned electro-spun fibres that can be produced on a static substrate or one where it is hauled off and spooled continuously to enable the production of continuous lengths. It consists of a precision liquid dispensing system that drives the plunger of a syringe with a metal needle. There comes a point, as the applied voltage is increased, the repulsive forces within the polymer solution overcome the surface tension of the liquid and a solvent-loaded polymer fibre or jet is ejected towards the grounded collector. A range of novel techniques have been demonstrated for producing aligned electro-spun fibres. A i v vii viii xi xiii xiv ii b iii iv vi ix xv x x xii c d xv xvi xvii xviii xx x xix xvi'

Methods

Results

Conclusion