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Three‐dimensional electrospun micropatterned cellulose acetate nanofiber surfaces with tunable wettability
Author(s) -
Kakunuri Manohar,
Wanasekara Nandula D.,
Sharma Chandra S.,
Khandelwal Mudrika,
Eichhorn Stephen J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.44709
Subject(s) - materials science , wetting , electrospinning , contact angle , nanofiber , cellulose acetate , composite material , cellulose , polymer , fiber , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , engineering
Three‐dimensional polymer nanofibrous mats with tunable wettability have been fabricated using a single step non‐conductive template assisted electrospinning process. Cellulose acetate nanofibers are electrospun over a nylon mesh, which acts as the template. The as‐deposited fiber mat is removed from this template to produce a free standing three‐dimensional micropatterned nanofibrous mat. By simply varying the template mesh dimensions, the fraction of the air‐liquid interface can be changed which allows control of the wetting mechanics. It is shown that the water contact angle can be varied from about 30° for a planar network to about 140° for a patterned mat implying a complete transition from hydrophilic to hydrophobic behavior. Furthermore, upon stretching the fiber mat loses its pattern irreversibly and reducing the contact angle from 140° to 110° with increasing stretching. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44709.