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Updated: May 29, 2026

Molecular Entanglement and Electrospinnability of Biopolymers
Published on: September 3, 2014
Effect of polymer molecular weight on the fiber morphology of electrospun mats
Hem Raj Pant1, Ki-Taek Nam, Hyun-Ju Oh
1Department of Bionanosystem Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
In this work, different fractions of solvent-induced polymer degraded solution were mixed with freshly prepared solution of same polymer, and its effect on fiber morphology of electrospun mats was investigated. Nylon-6 solution in formic acid was allowed to degrade for 3 weeks and different fractions of it were mixed with freshly prepared nylon-6 solution to get the electrospun mats. FE-SEM images of the mats indicated that the a large amount of sub-nanofibers (<50 nm in diameter) in the form of spider-net like structures were achieved by tailoring the amount of solvent degraded polymer solution in the freshly prepared nylon-6 solution. Large quantity of these ultrafine sub-nanofibers present in electrospun nylon-6 mats could increase its hydrophilicity and mechanical strength. The decreased average pore diameter and increased BET surface area of the mat, caused by spider-net like structure, can make it as a potential candidate for air/water filtration.
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