Fine liquid blowing: A high Reynolds number, high production rate nanofiber manufacturing technique

Abstract

ABSTRACTA novel gas‐assisted jetting process, term fine liquid blowing, is used to improve the production rate of making nanofiber from polymer solution. A high‐velocity gas stream is introduced through a central protruding core needle, while a liquid is introduce via an adjacent satellite needle. This arrangement avoids passing the high‐velocity gas over the surface of the slow flowing liquid and results in the stable acceleration of the liquid flow on its approach to the tip of the core needle, where it interacts with the high‐velocity gas, initiating numerous liquid jets at elevated Reynolds numbers of up to more than 800. The method was used to produce poly (vinyl alcohol) nonwoven fiber mats at polymer solution feed rates of up to 900 mL h, surpassing other conventional methods. The produced fibers were of diameters ranging from 96 to 430 nm. Over the tested range, polymer flow rate did not show significant influence on the resulting fiber diameter. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47384.