Preparation of Novel partially Bio-Based Thermoplastic Polyurethane / Polyacrylonitrile Electrospun Fiber Mats

Abstract

The partially bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane/polyacrylonitrile electrospun fiber mats at various weight ratio was fabricated via electrospinning technique. A partially bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane was prepared from caprolactone diol and partially bio-based diisocyanate at a mole ratio of 2.1:1. Ethylene glycol was used as a chain extender. Three major effects i.e. solution concentration, distance from tip to collector and applied voltage on morphology of the obtained electrospun fiber mats were systematically investigated using a scanning electron microscope. The design of experiment, namely, Taguchi method was also applied. The morphology of the prepared electrospun fiber mats revealed continuous and smooth fibers without the formation of beads. The fiber diameters of the thermoplastic bio-based polyurethane/polyacrylonitrile were in micron size ranging from 0.2 to 1.4 μm. Moreover, the results showed that with the decrease of concentration, the fiber diameter decreased where the changes of applied voltage and distance from tip to collector resulted in negligible changes in fiber diameter. The findings can be further applied as processing conditions to meet properties requirements for the high-performance separator application.