Abstract
We investigate the effect of alcohol fraction (isopropanol, IPA) in a binary water-alcohol solvent mixture on the shear and extensional rheological properties, as well as the role of viscoelasticity on fiber formation of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) in electrospinning. Comparison of the scaling of both specific viscosities ηsp and extensional relaxation times λE of PAA in water–IPA mixtures, showed stronger scaling compared to salt-free aqueous polyelectrolyte solutions, except for the ηsp in the unentangled regime displaying a polyelectrolyte-like scaling ηsp ~ c0.5 for all IPA%. Such deviation suggested IPA induces association/aggregation of PAA. However, the trends between ηsp and λE magnitudes as a function of IPA% differ for concentrations compared in the entangled regime. The ηsp as well as their elastic moduli exhibit a maximum, whereas λE increases monotonically with IPA%, suggesting a complex interplay of various interactions are dictating their structure in water-IPA mixtures, affecting their shear and extensional response differently. Electrospinning experiments showed increasing IPA% reduces the onset of both beaded and uniform fibers. Analysis using dimensionless numbers indicated the enhancement of their elasticity by IPA, and the consequent stabilizing effect on their jets/filaments against break-up during electrospinning, plays a role in the improvement of their fiber formation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1495-1512 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Journal of Polymer Science |
Volume | 61 |
Issue number | 14 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 15 2023 |
Funding
The authors thank the reviewers for critical comments and suggestions toward improving the manuscript quality, and Paul Meyer and Carlos Baez‐Cotto for discussions and assistance with polymer characterization. This work was authored by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, the manager and operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE‐AC36‐08GO28308. Funding provided by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid‐up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. The authors thank the reviewers for critical comments and suggestions toward improving the manuscript quality, and Paul Meyer and Carlos Baez-Cotto for discussions and assistance with polymer characterization. This work was authored by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, the manager and operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.
Keywords
- electrospinning
- extensional rheology
- nanofibers
- polyacrylic acid
- polyelectrolytes
- shear rheology