Effects of electrospinning voltage and flow rate on morphology of poly-vinyl alcohol nanofibers

Abstract

Nanofibers have obtained considerable interest for use in various applications. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been used to achieve many benefits for diverse pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. We investigated in this study the effects of applied voltage, needle diameter, and flow rate on morphologies of PVA nanofibers. A constant volume of the feeding solutions delivered to the needle at a flow rate of 1 and 2 mL/h with high potentials of voltage was applied as they exit the needle. After that, the electrospun fibers collected on the ground connected aluminum foil. The electrical conductivity measurements of feeding solutions performed at room temperature. Characterization of the PVA nanofibers conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The obtained nanofibers SEM images show beads when using the flow rate at 1 mL/h, whereas increasing the voltage and the flow rate improved the morphology of the nanofibers to uniform without beads. The FTIR results show that O-H and C-O bands are the main attributing to the chemical functionality of PVA nanofibers. As a conclusion, the high voltage and flow rate considered as the most critical parameters that impacted on PVA nanofibers morphology.