Needleless electrospinning of PAN/SBA-15 for the preparation of nanofibers membranes

Abstract

Polyacrylonitrile is one of the few waterproof polymers that can be spun from relatively safe solvents, facilitating the use of PAN nanofibers membranes in medical, filtration and biological applications. In this study PAN nanofiber membranes containing SBA-15 nanoparticles were prepared by the process of electrospinning in needless electrospinning machine and DMSO was used as solvent. A small amount of dispersing agent BYK W-9010 was added for a better deagglomerating of SBA-15 nanoparticles in the PAN/DMSO solution. The influence of rod like SBA-15 type ordered mesoporous silica particles as filler on the morphology and textural parameters of electrospun PAN nanofibers was studied. The effect of concentration, applied voltage, distance and feed rate on nanofibers diameter was investigated. The results obtained demonstrated that by increasing the concentration, applied voltage and feed rate, the number of nanofibers was increased and thicker nanofibers were obtained. Viscosity increased by increasing the concentration of polymer and it increased further by imparting small amount of silica nanoparticles. The SEM images of nanofibers were taken and their morphology explains that presence of silica nanoparticles in the nanofibers increases the specific surface area and makes the surface rough.