Dynamic viscosity recovery of electrospinning solution for stabilizing elongated ultrafine polymer nanofiber by...

Electrospinning is a widely used production method for nanoscale fine polymer fiber fabrics. An ultrafine fiber made of polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polyacrylic acid (PAA) has immense potential for applications in air filters, batteries, and biosensors. However, producing fabrics with long uniformly distributed ultrafine fibers of a mean diameter below ~ 200 nm is still a challenge, because such elongated-ultrafine fibers tend to break into beads before they reach the collector. Here, we exploits the thixotropy of the solution given by the addition of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl-oxidized cellulose nanofibers to recover the solution viscosity for stabilizing the electrostatically elongated nanofibers, whereby the solution is smooth in the syringe needle owing to the shear force but regain its original viscosity after being freed from electrostatic force. Using this method, we successfully fabricated a non-woven ultrafine-long nanofiber made of PVP and PAA with a mean diameter as low as ~ 90 nm with a negligible number of beads.