Green Electrospinning of Polymer Latexes: A Systematic Study of the Effect of Latex Properties on Fiber Morphology.

Edurne Gonzalez,Aitor Barquero,María Paulis,Jose Ramon Leiza,Belén Muñoz-Sanchez

doi:10.3390/nano11030706

Abstract

Green electrospinning is a relatively new promising technology in which a polymer (latex) can be spun from an aqueous dispersion with the help of a template polymer. This method is a green, clean and safe technology that is able to spin hydrophobic polymers using water as an electrospinning medium. In this article, a systematic study that investigates the influence of the template polymer molar mass, the total solids content of the initial dispersion and the particle/template ratio is presented. Furthermore, the influence of the surfactant used to stabilize the polymer particles, the surface functionality of the polymer particles and the use of a bimodal particle size distribution on the final fiber morphology is studied for the first time. In green electrospinning, the viscosity of the initial complex blend depends on the amount and molar mass of the template polymer but also on the total solids content of the dispersion to be spun. Thus, both parameters must be carefully taken into account in order to fine-tune the final fiber morphology. Additionally, the particle packing and the surface chemistry of the polymer particles also play an important role in the obtained nanofibers quality.

Highlights

IntroductionElectrospinning is a well-stablished technology used to create polymer nanofibers
Electrospinning is a well-stablished technology used to create polymer nanofibers.This technology has gained extraordinary relevance in recent years due to its simplicity and low cost as well as the possibility to effectively scale it up opening perspectives for industrial production [1,2,3,4]
It is important to remark that the total solids content (s.c.) of all the dispersion, that is, the concertation of the total polymer (PVA plus polymer particles), was kept constant to 17 wt.% in all the cases

Summary

Introduction

Electrospinning is a well-stablished technology used to create polymer nanofibers This technology has gained extraordinary relevance in recent years due to its simplicity and low cost as well as the possibility to effectively scale it up opening perspectives for industrial production [1,2,3,4]. Electrospun nanofibers have exceptional properties such as a huge area to volume ratio, porous structure and tunable functionality. These unique properties make electrospun materials very attractive for a broad range of applications such as textiles, filters, tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound healing, sensors, environmental remediation, aerogels, dye adsorption, packaging, energy storage and catalysis, among others [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12].

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