Electrospinning and Polymer
Nanofibers
Chem 6564 Guest Lecture #2
Tianyu Liu
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Chemistry
03/22/2018
Outline
Fundamentals
Background
Experimental setup
Electrospinning
Critical Parameters
Solution properties
Injection rate
Applied voltage
Collectors etc.
Examples of State-of-
the-Art Applications
Fundamentals
What is electrospinning?
Needle
CollectorHigh voltage
supply
Polymer solution
Liquid jet
 The experimental setup
 A technique that can manufacture nanofibers
What is electrospinning?
 HHS 3002
Product?
Needle
CollectorHigh voltage
supply
Polymer solution
Liquid jet
Nanofibers
Natural Nanofibers...
silk fibroin nanofibers chitosan nanofibers collagen nanofibers
hyaluronic acid nanofibers gelatin nanofibers fibrinogen nanofibers
Synthetic polymer nanofibers
T Uyar et al., Polymer 2009, 50, 475.
polyacrylonitrile nanofibers polystyrene nanofibers
Poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers cellulose acetate nanofibers
polyacrylamide nanofibers
poly(methyl methacrylate)
nanofibers
Block Copolymer Nanofibers
PMMA-b-PS nanofibers
Mol. Syst. Des. Eng. 2018, DOI: 10.1039/C7ME00122C
*
*
N
O
O
m n
Ceramic Nanofibers
Nanoscale, 2010, 2, 1670–1673
Zirconia nanofibers
TiC nanofibers
Science 2004, 304, 1917
Composite Nanofibers
Nanotechnology 2008, 19, 195303; Adv. Mater. 2004, 14, 16.
CNFs/Pd nanoparticles CNFs/CNTs
CNFs/Graphene/Ni nanoparticles
CNFs/PANI nanorodes
anatase nanofibers/Au
nanoparticles
Ag nanoparticles
Polymer Nanofibers
Greiner,A. et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2007. 46, 5670-5703
Nanomaterials
History
Best And Green Energy EFFicient technologies
Electrospinning
Revisit
Needle
CollectorHigh voltage
supply
Polymer solution
Liquid jet
 The experimental setup
Talyor Cone
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+
+
+
+
+
+
Talyor Cone (tip region)
Analyst., 2012. 137, 4150-4161Wikipedia
Whipping Jet Model - Spinning
Streaming segment
1st whipping segment
2nd whipping segment
3rd
whipping
segment
Fong H, Reneker DH. Electrospinning and the formation of nanofibers. Hanser Publishing; 2000, 225-46
Whipping Jet Model - Spinning
Stereographic pictures of polyethylene oxide nanofibers during electrospinning
Fong H, Reneker DH. Electrospinning and the formation of nanofibers. Hanser Publishing, 2000, 225-46
Whipping Jet Model - Spinning
Greiner,A. et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2007. 46, 5670-5703
Question
Why forming a cone?
circular motion
ω v 𝑣 = 𝜔𝑟
Critical Parameters
Overview
Applied Potential
Shape
Solution
Properties
Injection Rate
Collector Pattern
#1 Concentration
RSC Adv. 2015, 5, 14345-14350
Poly. Degrad. Stab.. 2014, 110, 225-231
Viscosity
poly(vinylidene fluoride)
#2 Viscosity
http://www.absorbables.com/technical/inherent_viscosity.html
poly(lactide-co-glycolide) in hexafluoroisopropanol polycaprolactone in chloroform
 molecular weight
#2 Viscosity
 If viscosity is too small
RSC Adv. 2015, 5, 14345-14350
 Bead formation
#3 Applied Voltage
 poly-acrylonitrile in dimethylformamide
Z. Zhou et al., J. Phys. D:Appl. Phys, 2011, 44, 435401,
#3 Applied Voltage
http://www.intechopen.com/books/nanofibers/preparation-of-cellulose-based-nanofibers-using-electrospinning
10 kV 15 kV
20 kV 25 kV
ethylcellulose nanofibers
~260 nm ~220 nm
~150 nm~160 nm
#4 Injection Rate
http://www.intechopen.com/books/nanofibers/preparation-of-cellulose-based-nanofibers-using-electrospinning
(a)<(b)<(c)<(d)
#5 Shape of Needles
J.Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 764-765.
 coaxial nozzles
#6 Needle-less (Nozzle-free) Electrospinning
 point to plane  plane to plane
#6 Needle-less (Nozzle-free) Electrospinning
Elmarco NanospiderTM technology
www.elmarco.com
#7 The Collectors
J. Cell. Plastics, 2014, 51, 165-196
Exercise
To reduce the fiber diameter, we need to...
 Concentration
Viscosity
 AppliedVoltage
 Injection Rate
 Needle-to-Plane Distance
 Solution Temperature
Amount Out
State-of-the-Art
Applications
Applications
Electrospun Nanofibers
Applications in life science
• Drug delivery carrier
• Antibacterial membranes
• Wound dressing
Tissue engineering scaffolding
• Porous membranes
• Tubular shapes for blood vessels and
nerve regenerations
• 3D scaffolds for bone and cartilage
regenerations
Filter media
• Liquid filtration
• Gas filtration
• Molecule filtration
Military protective clothing
• Minimal impedance to air
• Efficiency in trapping aerosol
particles
• Anti-bio-chemical gases
Nano devices
• Thermal sensor
• Biochemical sensor
• Fluorescence optical sensor
Other industrial applications
• High efficient and functional catalysts
•Ultrahydrophobic/philic water collectors
Energy conversion and storage
• Supercapacitor electrodes
• Photovoltaic devices
• Battery electrodes
• Separators
Nanocomposites
• Polymer composites with nanofiber-
reinforced interfaces
• Lightweight nanofiber composites
• Nanofiber reinforced surface
coatings
Number of Publications
# of publication
(2007-2017)
# of citation
(2007-2017)
Example #1
 silica-carbon
nanofibers
for Li-ion
batteries
Nano Lett., 2015, 15, 3899–3906
Example #2
 needless-electrospinning
MnO2/CNT nanofibers
ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 2018, 1, 296-300
Example #3
 patterning of fiber collectors
O2 plasma
mask hydrophobic
hydrophilic
polydopamine
solution
polyurethane (PU)
Adv. Mater. Interfaces, 2018, 5, 1701204
Summary
Electrospinning
Background
Mechanism
Parameters
Applications
20180323 electrospinning and polymer nanofibers

20180323 electrospinning and polymer nanofibers