Modeling and optimization of electrospun polyvinylacetate (PVAc) nanofibers by response surface methodology (RSM)

Response surface methodology (RSM), a collection of statistical and mathematical techniques, has been widely used to optimize and design operating conditions. Although this method is suitable for optimizing experimental conditions, very few attempts have been made on the electrospinning process. In this work, RSM was used to model and optimize of the electrospinning parameters for polyvinylacetate (PVAc) nanofibers. PVAc solution in acetone was electrospun under various conditions such as concentration of spinning solution and applied voltage. The experimental results indicate that concentrations of solution and applied voltage played an important role on the diameter size of PVAc nanofibers. The second order polynomial function was used to correlate the fiber diameter with the production variables. The predicted fiber diameters were in good agreement with the experimental results.