A design of experiments (DoE) approach to material properties optimization of electrospun nanofibers

Abstract

Using an electrospinning technique, polymer materials have been spun using electrostatic potential to create a fiber mat. To develop the electrospinning opportunities available for practical applications, it is important that a full understanding of process parameters is achieved. These fundamental principles will form the initial framework of future research with the effects on polymer output examined as the primary focus of this article. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) and polylactic acid (PLA) polymer solutions were developed and a Design of Experiments (DoE) approach implemented, to determine whether the variation of factors led to significant effects on fiber output. Parameters altered were conductivity, concentration (% w/w), electrostatic potential, and the collection distance at which the fiber was obtained. Results taken considered the fiber diameter, deposition rate of material, current achieved at the point of collection and whether or not the material was actually able to electrospin and visibly produce polymer fiber. The results of this work indicate the presence of interactions between the processing parameters and as such allow a fine tuning process to be used to adapt production of the micro-and nanofibers to suit a desired application with specific materials properties.

The influence of process parameters on the properties of electrospun PLLA yarns studied by the response surface methodology

“…Electrospinning, a technique in which electric forces are subjected to polymer solutions or melts, is an efficient method to produce fibers from both synthetic and natural polymers with submicron diameters. [1][2][3] Fiber deposition may be either randomly, leading to nanofiber webs, or structures composed of aligned fibers using collection devices or by manipulating the electric field. 2,4 Compared to nanofiber webs, aligned nanofiber bundles hold more lateral interaction and friction between fibers.…”

Electrospinning predictions using artificial neural networks

“…The most important solution property is concentration, as together with molecular weight it determines whether or not there is a critical level of molecular entanglement for electrospinning to occur [28,30,33,35,51]. The concentration also follows power law relationships with fibre diameter and can easily be varied prior to electrospinning.…”

“…A nonlinear inverse relationship was found between the dielectric constant of the solvent and the fibre diameter [29]. Theron [30][31][32][33]. While it is difficult to directly compare findings, certain trends seem to be universal i.e.…”

Investigation of Effect of Electrospinning Parameters on the Morphology of Polyacrylonitrile/Polymethylmethacrylate Nanofibers: A Box–Behnken-Based Study

“…[1,3,[18][19][20][21] The morphological structure and dimensions of electrospun fibers are influenced by three types of parameters: material, processing and ambient ones. Polymer type and its molecular weight, polymer concentration, solvent and polymer solution properties (viscosity, conductivity and surface tension) are some of the important material properties.…”