Flat polymer ribbons and other shapes by electrospinning

In addition to round nanofibers, electrospinning a polymer solution can produce thin fibers with a variety of cross‐sectional shapes. Branched fibers, flat ribbons, ribbons with other shapes, and fibers that were split longitudinally from larger fibers were observed. The transverse dimensions of these asymmetric fibers were typically 1 or 2 μm, measured in the widest direction. A correlation of the branches and bends, observed in high‐frame‐rate videography of the electrified jets of polymer solutions from which the ribbons and branched fibers were produced, suggest that these phenomena occur at scales ranging from around 1 mm to 1 μm. The observation of fibers with these cross‐sectional shapes from a number of different kinds of polymers and solvents indicates that fluid mechanical effects, electrical charge carried with the jet, and evaporation of the solvent all contributed to the formation of the fibers. The influence of a skin on the jets of polymer solutions accounts for a number of the observations. The observed shapes can be used as guides for the extension of mathematical or computer‐generated models for the electrospinning process. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2598–2606, 2001     

Effect of solvents on electro-spinnability of polystyrene solutions and morphological appearance of resulting electrospun polystyrene fibers

The effects of solvents and their properties on electro-spinnability of the as-prepared polystyrene (PS) solutions and the morphological appearance of the as-spun PS fibers were investigated qualitatively by means of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The eighteen solvents used were benzene, t-butylacetate, carbontetrachloride, chlorobenzene, chloroform, cyclohexane, decahydronaphthalene (decalin), 1,2-dichloroethane, dimethylformamide (DMF), 1,4-dioxane, ethylacetate, ethylbenzene, hexane, methylethylketone (MEK), nitrobenzene, tetrahydrofuran (THF), 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (tetralin), and toluene. The PS solutions in 1,2-dichloroethane, DMF, ethylacetate, MEK, and THF could produce fibers with high enough productivity, while the PS solutions in benzene, cyclohexane, decalin, ethylbenzene, nitrobenzene, and tetralin were not spinnable. Qualitative observation of the results obtained suggested that the important factors determining the electro-spinnability of the as-prepared PS solutions are high enough values of both the dipole moment of the solvent and the conductivity of both the solvent and the resulting solutions, high enough boiling point of the solvent, not-so-high values of both the viscosity and the surface tension of the resulting solutions.