Preparation and Characterization of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) (PMMA) Fibers by Electrospinning

Abstract

Fibers are materials with advantageous properties such as lightweight material properties, has small pore size, and has high surface area, porosity,and permeability. An easy and simple method to prepare fibers is electrospinning. Using this method poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) fibers were prepared. Several parameters include polymer concentration, solution flow rate, the distance of the nozzle tip to the collector, and the applied voltage were investigated to control the morphology, structure, and diameter of PMMA fibers. The Optimal electrospinning conditions for PMMA fibers production were a PMMA concentration is 8% (w/v), a power supply voltage is 20 kV, a distance of the tip of the nozzle to the ground collector is 15 cm, and a flow rate is 0.004 mL/min. The diameter distribution and morphology of the fibers were determined and characterized by Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), which showed that the produced fiber had an average diameter of 1.4925 µm, the contact angle of fiber PMMA is 125.307o and the spreading time of fibers PMMA is about 360 minutes

A Review on the Secondary Surface Morphology of Electrospun Nanofibers: Formation Mechanisms, Characterizations, and Applications

“…Phase separation (e. g. thermally induced (TIPS) and vapor induced phase separation (VIPS)) is another method for producing porous fibers . Highly volatile solvents such as dichloromethane (DCM), acetone (ACE), tetrahydrofuran (THF), and chloroform, has the ability to generate porous fibers from various polymers such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA), polystyrene (PS), poly(D,L‐lactide), poly(ϵ‐caprolactone), poly(vinyl acetate) (PVA), polycarbonate, polyvinyl butyral (PVB), ethylcellulose, polymethylsilsesquioxane, cellulose triacetate, and polyvinyl carbazole . Commonly, pores are created on the electrospun fibers’ surfaces due to TIPS.…”