The effect of frequency change on the alternating current electrospinning of polyamide 6 and its productivity

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of frequency on the electrospinning of polyamide 6 using an alternating electric field. The study included the investigation of the behavior of two polyamide solutions with respect specifically to the dependence of the spinning behavior on increasing voltage frequency. All the measurements were taken applying a rectangular signal for the spinning. The study demonstrated the fundamental influence of frequency on the electrospinning process and, above all, its efficiency. It was discovered that the time of so-called effective spinning, or the period during which the appearance of a more significant number of Taylor cones and polymer nozzles is observed, remains, in certain cases, basically independent of the selected frequency value. This finding thus indicates the application of higher frequencies than the standard 50 Hz in order to enhance the efficiency of the polyamide 6 spinning process. This conclusion was supported by the measurement of the productivity of the process at various frequencies, as well as SEM images that served to prove the preservation of the fibrous nature of the products via the creation of histograms of the fiber diameters. The nanofibrous layers produced by this method are suitable for application in the fields of chemical analytics or filtration.