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Fabrication of Aligned Poly( L ‐lactide) Fibers by Electrospinning and Drawing
Author(s) -
Afifi Amalina M.,
Nakajima Hajime,
Yamane Hideki,
Kimura Yoshiharu,
Nakano Shigeyuki
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.200900101
Subject(s) - electrospinning , materials science , fabrication , nanofiber , fiber , composite material , rotational speed , rotation (mathematics) , voltage , bundle , polymer , mechanical engineering , electrical engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , geometry , mathematics , pathology , engineering
Abstract A new target collector was designed for taking up aligned nanofibers by electrospinning. The collector consists of a rotor around which several fins were attached for winding electrospun filaments continuously in large amounts. The alignment of the nanofibers wound on the collector was affected by the electrospinning conditions, such as the needle‐to‐collector distance and the applied voltage, but not by the rotation speed of the collector. At a voltage of 0.5 kV · cm −1 , about 60% of the fibers were found to be aligned within an angle of ± 5° relative to the rotational direction of the collector. The fiber alignment was improved to 90% by drawing the fiber bundle 2–3 times at 110 °C. The drawing was also effective for crystal orientation of the fibers as revealed by WAXD. The drawn fibers show improved mechanical properties.