A feasibility study on semi industrial nozzleless electrospinning of cellulose nanofiber

Abstract

The current study focuses on the production of cellulose nanofiber through semi-industrial nozzleless electrospinning process. The cellulose biopolymer used for spinning process was extracted from rice straw as renewable, abundant, and inexpensive natural resource. The electrospinning device comprising one needle is extremely inefficient because of low productivity level of about 0.3 g/h. Thus, using the nozzleless electrospinning system guarantees the high productivity of nanofiber web for diverse applications. The successful electrospinning process is accomplished through systematic control of the surface tension, viscosity, and electric conductivity of aqueous solutions of cellulose. Moreover, a design expert software was used for providing experimental plan for the investigation of the influence of the operational conditions on the spinning properties of the selected solution. The polyvinyl alcohol with a weight ratio of 60 % relative to cellulose content was used as a biocompatible polymer to facilitate electrospinning process for producing the aqueous cellulose solution of 0.63 wt%. Based on the scanning electron microscopy images, and various selected parameters, namely, the drum rotation rate of 9 rpm, high voltage range of ±55 kV, the spinning temperature of 41 °C, and 10-cm distance between drum and collector an average diameter of 89 ± 1 nm was arrived. The composite nanofibers used for filter production and their performance were evaluated by porosity analysis and permeability tests. Results show the negative impact of the weak mechanical strength as an obstacle in Penetration test. (It promotes by higher electrospinning time and reaching proper stiffness in web layer.) The permeability tests show a maximum value of 3.5 cm3/cm2/s at the maximum pressure of 120 Pa.