High-quality Janus nanofibers prepared using three-fluid electrospinning

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Electrospinning is a versatile technique for nanofiber fabrication.
• Producing Janus (two-faced) nanofibers with distinct core and shell materials presents challenges.
• Existing spinnerets struggle to achieve controlled multi-fluid co-electrospinning for complex nanofiber structures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a novel structured spinneret for three-fluid electrospinning.
• To demonstrate the capability of the new spinneret for fabricating high-quality Janus nanofibers.
• To overcome limitations associated with standard spinnerets in producing specific nanofiber architectures.

Main Methods:

• Development of a custom three-fluid spinneret with nested acentric needles within a metal capillary.
• Implementation of a three-fluid electrospinning setup using an exterior solvent and two side-by-side core fluids.
• Characterization of the resulting polyvinylpyrrolidone/shellac Janus nanofibers.

Main Results:

• The structured spinneret successfully facilitated three-fluid electrospinning.
• High-quality polyvinylpyrrolidone/shellac Janus nanofibers were prepared.
• The novel spinneret design enabled the formation of Janus nanofibers, a feat not achievable with standard side-by-side spinnerets.

Conclusions:

• A novel structured spinneret design is effective for advanced three-fluid electrospinning.
• This innovation enables the production of high-quality Janus nanofibers with specific material compositions.
• The developed spinneret represents a significant advancement for fabricating complex nanomaterials.