The effect of relative humidity on electrospinning of poly- (vinyl alcohol) with soluble eggshell membrane

Abstract

Electrospinning of poly-(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with soluble eggshell membrane (S-ESM) in aqueous media was carried out under 20%-70% relative humidity (RH). The S-ESM/PVA spinning dope was 11.66 wt% solutes concentration with weight ratio of S-ESM:PVA = 40:60. Fiber morphology and fiber diameter were determined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-ESM). A RH of 40% was found to be optimal for obtaining a sufficient fiber collection of S-ESM/PVA fibers. S-ESM particles were appeared on the surface of the fibers at 20%-30% RH. It was also found that the diameter of S-ESM/PVA blend fiber decreased with increasing the RH. © 2012 The Textile Machinery Society of Japan.