Centrifugal Spinning: An Alternative Approach to Fabricate Nanofibers at High Speed and Low Cost

Abstract

Nanofibers are an important class of material that is useful in a variety of applications, including filtration, tissue engineering, protective clothing, battery separators, energy storage, etc. So far, electrospinning is the most used method for producing nanofibers. However, the wide-spread commercial use of electrospinning is limited mainly due to its low production rate. Most other nanofiber production methods, such as melt-blowing, bicomponent fiber spinning, phase separation, template synthesis, and self-assembly, are complex and can only be used to make nanofibers from limited types of polymers. Centrifugal spinning is an alternative method for producing nanofibers from various materials at high speed and low cost. In centrifugal spinning, the spinning fluid is placed in a rotating spinning head. When the rotating speed reaches a critical value, the centrifugal force overcomes the surface tension of the spinning fluid to eject a liquid jet from the nozzle tip of the spinning head. The jet then undergoes a stretching process and is eventually deposited on the collector, forming solidified nanofibers. Centrifugal spinning is simple and enables the rapid fabrication of nanofibers for various applications. This article gives an overview on the centrifugal spinning process, and compares it with conventional nanofiber production methods.

Nanocomposite SPEEK-based membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells at intermediate temperatures

“…Recently, a novel approach has been proposed in which nanofibers are produced by strong centrifugal forces (centrifugal spinning) enabling higher production rates [48].…”

Research on the development of the centrifugal spinning

“…Electrostatic force makes the material stretched, when the surface tension is overcome, a jet is ejected from the spinneret, then the jet undergoes a spiral trajectory and finally the jet arrives the collector. Although there are many virtues to the electrospinning process, the low fiber production rates, high voltage (5kV~60kV), solvent limitations and so on make it unable to large scale commercial use [7][8][9][10]. In recent years, some progresses have been made to increase the production rate of electrospinning.…”

Advances in Polypropylene Based Materials

“…The jet then undergoes a stretching process and is eventually deposited on the collector, forming solidified nanofibers. Centrifugal spinning is simple and enables the rapid fabrication of nanofibers for various applications [80]. The Forcespinning® unique technology [81] has only recently been developed to commercial-level production by FibeRio Technology Corp., McAllen, Texas, and it has already gained significant momentum with reporting of PP nanofibers with average diameters of less than 500 nanometers.…”

“…The polymerization mechanism of metallocene catalysts is similar to that of Ziegler-Natta catalysts: propylene monomer molecules coordinate with transition metal complexes and then insert between the chained segments and the metal to form the long chain polymer [1]. The most important technological characteristic of all the supported catalysts are high productivity and a high fraction of the crystalline isotactic PP they produce at [70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80] o C under standard polymerization conditions. Industrial manufacturing processes are usually carried out either in the medium of liquid propylene or in the gas-phase reactors, and differences in catalytic system and production conditions enable altering of molecular characteristics, morphology and properties of PP [2,7].…”