Shear-enhanced solution precipitation : a simple process to produce short polymeric nanofibers
Sutti, Alessandra, Lin, Tong and Wang, Xungai 2011, Shear-enhanced solution precipitation : a simple process to produce short polymeric nanofibers, Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 8947-8952.
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Shear-enhanced solution precipitation : a simple process to produce short polymeric nanofibers
The growing interest in polymeric nanofibers has been increasing the push for the development of simple and efficient nanofiber-preparation techniques. We herein describe how a conventional solution process is readapted to suit the needs for fast and efficient production of short polymeric nanofibers. Poly(ethylene-co-acrylic acid) (PEAA), a semi-crystalline polymer, was used as model. When a PEAA solution was injected into an alcoholic non-solvent while simultaneously applying high shear to the non-solvent system, PEAA nanofibers were obtained with average diameter as thin as 113 nm and length as short as 4.5 _m. The fiber diameter and length were also adjustable by varying the operating parameters. This one-step technique advances the currently available nanofabrication tools by adjusting a widely accepted concept to the nano-scale. It may constitute a viable method for large-scale production of short polymeric nanofibers.