Novel method for preparation of continuously twisted nanofiber yarn based on a combination of stepped airflow electrospinning and friction twisting

Abstract

Electrospinning nanofiber yarn with large surface area, excellent aligned degree, perfect anisotropy and secondary process-ability has shown good prospects in the application of functional textiles, flexible and wearable electronic devices, tissue engineering, and carbon nanofiber yarn formation. However, the current methods for preparing the electrospinning nanofiber yarn still have the problems of unstable spinning process and poor yarn properties caused by low nanofiber yield and improper twisting, which limits its functional application. In this paper, a novel electrospinning method controlled by stepped airflow field and negative pressure suction is designed to spin continuously twisted nanofiber yarn based on a combination of stepped airflow electrospinning and traditional friction spinning, improving the limitation of low nanofiber yield and poor yarn properties. Our designed method can perfectly match the collection and twisting of large-scale nanofibers with excellent alignment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this method is suitable for many polymers to continuously spin yarn and that the prepared yarn shows perfect weave-ability. The successful fabrication of nanofiber yarn displays the importance for expanding the application of nanofiber materials.