Nanofibers from Melt Blown Fiber-in-Fiber Polymer Blends

ORAL

Abstract

Nanofibers were generated by melt blowing three sets of polymer blends each comprised of pairs of immiscible components. Blends containing minority phases of poly(ethylene-\textit{co}-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PECTFE) in poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), PECTFE in poly(styrene) (PS), and PBT in PS, were melt blown into long (\textgreater 100 microns) fibers with average diameters of several microns. Electron microscope revealed that melt blowing transformed the initial spherical dispersions into a nanofibers-in-fiber morphology. Macroscopic mats of nonwoven PBT and PECTFE nanofibers, with average diameters as small as 70 nm, were isolated by selectively removing the majority phase with a solvent. This method provides a potentially inexpensive, high throughput, one step route to scalable quantities of polymeric nanofibers.

*Cummins Filtration

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Authors

  • Zaifei Wang

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

  • Feng Zuo

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

  • Dawud Tan

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

  • Soondeuk Jeung

    • Cummins Filtration

  • Christopher Macosko

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities

  • Frank Bates

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities