Orthogonal design study on factors affecting the diameter of perfluorinated sulfonic acid nanofibers during electrospinning

Abstract

In this study, Nafion® NR 40 beads with polyethylene oxide (PEO) are fabricated into a nanofiber membrane using electrospinning. In particular, Nafion® beads in non‐toxic mixed solvent (EtOH and H2O) were blended with the carrier polymer PEO, which is the minor component in the solution responsible for the solution spinnability. The highest content of Nafion® in the nanofiber is 98.04%. To investigate the factors influencing the nanofiber diameter during electrospinning, an orthogonal design method was adopted. These factors include the carrier polymer content, distance between the syringe needle and roller collector, flow rate of the electrospinning solution, and the roller rotation speed. After obtaining the significant factors and optimal test level, an additional optimization experiment is conducted under the best conditions. The resulting nanofibers have a diameter of ∼150 nm. Moreover, the obtained Nafion® nanofiber membrane has strong potential for applications in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), the chlor‐alkali industry, catalysts, and metal ion removal. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41755.

Modeling and optimization of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) nanofibrous proton exchange membranes with response surface methodology

“…A steeped slope in variation of diameter with concentration demonstrates that this response is more sensitive to concentration than standard deviation. As expected and mentioned in literature , solutions with a high polymer content would hinder the fiber‐extension process (in the bending instability region of the jet) due to the greater resistance of the solution in stretching by the surface charges on the jet. This will lead to relatively thicker nanofibers with enhanced non‐uniformity.…”

“…Reducing the diameter of nanofibers from 142 nm to 94 nm enhanced the conductivity from 0.095 S/cm to 0.126 S/cm at 60°C and 100% RH, respectively . The studies of electrospinning parameters on the morphology of nanofibers as a proton conducting component in the membrane structure have mainly focused on Nafion , and limited works are available on the morphological control of SPEEKK , PBI‐PBz , and SPEEK nanofibers.…”

Electrospinning preparation of a graphene oxide nanohybrid proton‐exchange membrane for fuel cells

“…The schematic of fabrication of GO/Nafion nanofiber membranes is shown in Figure . Nafion solution was prepared according to the procedure described in our previous report . The GO dispersion and Nafion solution were mixed to prepare 0.1% and 0.2% GO/Nafion solutions separately.…”

“…In our previous study, the parameters of electrospinning experiment were studied using an orthogonal design and analysis method. Therein, we observed that Nafion lacks the necessary chain entanglements and does not form fibers unless a suitable carrier polymer is added to the electrospinning solution.…”

Steady state electrospinning of uniform polyethersulfone nanofibers using a non-heated solvent mixture

“…The average fiber diameter ranges from 300 to 730 nm. Changes in the diameter will affect the pore structure of the nanofiber membranes (Song et al 2015).…”