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Emulsion electrospinning: composite fibers from drop breakup during electrospinning
Author(s) -
Angeles Melissa,
Cheng HsinLing,
Velankar Sachin S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.1031
Subject(s) - electrospinning , materials science , emulsion , mineral oil , drop (telecommunication) , breakup , chemical engineering , composite number , polystyrene , composite material , polymer , psychology , telecommunications , computer science , psychoanalysis , engineering , metallurgy
We evaluate the feasibility of electrospinning oil‐in‐water type emulsions. The emulsions had an aqueous solution of polyethylene oxide (PEO) as the continuous phase, and either mineral oil or a polystyrene (PS) in toluene solution as the drop phase. The Taylor cones and electrified liquid jets were stable even when the emulsion drops were as large as a few‐ten microns in diameter. The resulting electrospun PEO fibers incorporated the dispersed phase of the emulsion in the form of drops (in case of mineral oil), or in the form of solid particles (in case of PS). Mineral oil drops appear to be completely encapsulated in the PEO fibers, whereas the PS particles are either incompletely encapsulated, or covered by only a very thin layer of PEO. Calculations show that in both cases, the initially large emulsion drops are broken during the electrospinning process. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.