Solution Blow Spinning: Introduction and Application


Introduction

Nanofiber materials have the advantages of large specific surface area, high porosity, low density, good mechanical flexibility and so on, which show broad application prospects in many fields. There are various methods for preparing nanofiber materials, including electrospinning, solution blow spinning (SBS), the centrifugal spinning, the melt-blown Spinning, etc. SBS combines the advantages of electrospinning and melt-blown spinning, the process is simple and safe, spinning efficiency is high, suitable for a wider range of solution system, can choose more diverse raw materials, can control the structure and diameter of nanofibers. Since its development in 2009, SBS has received extensive attention from many fields and has become an efficient and versatile method for fabricating nanofiber materials with controllable microstructure and morphology.
In recent years, the number of papers on the topic of SBS has remained high (see Table 1). Tianjin Polytechnic University, Suzhou University, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Jiangnan University, Donghua University, Dalian Polytechnic University and other universities are committed to using SBS to spinning nanofibers, so as to study the practicality of nanomaterials in various fields.The research enthusiasm of universities on SBS shows that blow spinning technology has great potential in the preparation of nanomaterials. With the deepening of research, spinning technology is becoming increasingly mature.This paper introduces the basic principle of solution blow spinning and its applicable raw materials, focusing on the influence of process parameters on solution blow spinning, and expounds the practical application of solution blow spinning nanofibers.

Solution blow spinning raw materials

Many materials can be used to produce nanofiber materials by SBS technology. Polymers are the most commonly used materials for fabricating fibers via SBS. SBS has no special requirement on the dielectric constant of the spinning solution, so it is suitable for a wider range of spinning.
 In the laboratory of Jia Chao et al., they used SBS to study the spinnability of many polymer materials, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA), polyamide (PA), polylactic acid (PLA), polyimide (PI), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(imide dioxime) (PIDO), SiO2 fibers, TiO2 fibers, ZrO2 fibers, BaTiO3 fibers, SnO2 fibers, SiO2− Al2O3 composite fibers,ZrO2−Al2O3 composite fibers, YSZ fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, polymer-based composite fibers,PAN-based carbon fibers,AgNF fibers,PLA-SiO2 composite fibers, PLA-TiO2 composite fibers, PLA-CeO2 composite fibers.
In addition to synthetic polymers, natural polymers, such as cellulose, zein, and gelatin, have also been successfully blown and spun into fibrous materials. For some non-spinnable natural polymers, mixing them with spinnable synthetic polymers is an effective strategy to obtain spinnable SBS solutions. 
Glebert et al. studied synthetic polymers and composites,including Poly (acrylonitrile), Poly (vinylidene fluoride), Poly (vinylpyrrolidone), Poly (methyl methacrylate), Poly (vinyl chloride),Sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) and Sulfonated poly (ether sulfone), Polyimide, Poly (lactic acid), Poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid), Poly (ethylene oxide), Cellulose, Lignin, Nylon, Polyurethane, Poly (vinyl acetate), Poly (vinyl alcohol), and Poly(ethyl-co-vinyl acetate), Poly (styrene), Poly (caprolactone).

Application of solution blow spinning nanofibers

Thermal insulation material

Lightweight thermal insulation materials with low thermal conductivity are urgently needed in aerospace, thermal power, battery thermal protection and other fields. Ceramic fibrous spongy materials are ideal for thermal insulation because of their low density and thermal conductivity. However, producing such insulation materials efficiently and cheaply remains a challenge.

Biomedical

Nanofibers have unique application advantages in biomedicine, and related products have entered the market. As a new nanofiber processing technology, solution blow spinning can directly deposit the fiber on the specified target, even on the surface of biological tissues, which further expands the application of nanofibers in the biomedical field.

Flexible Electronic Devices

Metal materials have good electrical conductivity, but bulk metals have poor flexibility and are difficult to be used in flexible electronic devices. Processing metals into fibers significantly increases their flexibility while retaining their inherent electrical conductivity. Metal fibers have excellent flexibility and electrical conductivity, which can meet the application requirements of flexible electronic devices.

Environmental protection

The nanomaterials prepared by SBS technology can be used for air filtration and pollutant adsorption. KHALID et al.  coated the window screen with nanofibers on a large scale to protect the room from suspended matter pollution, and prepared a transparent air filter with light transmittance of more than 80%, and the efficiency level of PM2.5 removal could reach more than 99%. KOLBASOV et al. successfully prepared PA6-based nanofiber membrane containing bio-based polymer by solution blow spinning method (bio-based polymer was made of lignin, oats, chitosan, sodium alginate and soybean protein as raw materials), and studied the adsorption effect of this membrane on heavy metal pollutant lead (Pb).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Combing Process in Spinning

Twist Test Methods and Influencing Factors

Garment Dyeing-Special Dyeing Method In Textile