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Non‐ionic surfactants for enhancing electrospinability and for the preparation of electrospun nanofibers
Author(s) -
Wang ShuQiang,
He JiHuan,
Xu Lan
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.2447
Subject(s) - electrospinning , nanofiber , materials science , pulmonary surfactant , polymer , chemical engineering , ionic bonding , surface tension , fabrication , composite material , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , ion , medicine , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics , engineering
BACKGROUND: Electrospinning is widely used to produce nanofibers; however, not every polymer can be electrospun into nanofibers. To enhance electrospinability, much effort has been made in designing new apparatus, such as vibration‐electrospinning, magneto‐electrospinning and bubble‐electrospinning. RESULTS: A representative non‐ionic surfactant, TritonR X‐100, is used to enhance electrospinability. The surfactant is added to an electrospun poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) polymer solution, and a dramatic reduction in surface tension is observed. As a result, a moderate voltage is needed to produce fine nanofibers, which are commonly observed during the conventional electrospinning procedure only at elevated voltage. CONCLUSION: The novel strategy produces smaller nanofibers than those obtained without surfactants, and the minimum threshold voltage is much decreased. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry