Electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers

Abstract

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was electrospun in dimethylformamide as a function of electric field, solution flow rate, and polymer concentration (C). The fiber diameter increased with C and ranged from 30 nm to 3.0 mm. The fiber diameter increased with the flow rate and decreased when the electric field was increased by a change in the working distance; however, it did not change significantly when the electric field was varied by a change in the voltage at a given working distance. The fibers below about 350 nm diameter contained beads, whereas above this diameter, bead-free fibers were obtained. For PAN with a molecular weight of 100,000 g/mol, the fiber diameter scaled as C , consistent with De Gennes's scaling concepts. In the semidilute unentangled regime (0.5-3.1 wt %), where the viscosity scaled as C 1.3 , microscopic or nanoscopic particles rather than fibers were obtained. Concentrationdependent electrospinning studies were also carried out for higher molecular weight PAN (250,000 and 700,00 g/mol). The results of these studies are also presented and discussed.

Evaluation of Electrospun Fibrous Mats Targeted for Use as Flow Battery Electrodes

“…This is about 10× lower than conventional GDL materials but about 10× higher than typical electrospun materials. 16,22 One of the first challenges to address was how to electrospin fibers in this intermediate size range.…”

“…In addition, electrospinning PAN has been well researched and optimized. 22,23 The literature in this field is focused on the use of PAN as a carbon fiber precursor. 21,24 Although the chemical and physical property transition during carbonization is well-known, 25 the effect of carbonization on transport properties of electrospun materials remains undetermined.…”

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/crown ether composite nanofibers for the selective adsorption of cations

“…However, PAN-10, PAN-15 and PAN-20 nanobers have a broader ber diameter distribution and comparatively high diameter range from 120 to 650 nm. We assume that the increased viscosity due to the higher crown ether fractions 33 and the reduced solution conductivity are the primary reason of ber thickening. Fig.…”

The role of aligned polymer fiber-based constructs in the bridging of long peripheral nerve gaps

“…Uniaxially aligned fiber films were fabricated by electrospinning poly(acrylonitrile-comethylacrylate, random copolymer, 4 mole percent of methylacrylate) (PAN-MA) on a highspeed rotating metal drum [10]. Briefly, an 18% PAN-MA (w/v) solution was prepared by dissolving PAN-MA in the organic solvent, N, N,-Dimethyl Formamide (DMF, Acros) at 60°C…”