Continuous yarns from electrospun fibers

• Published in: Polymer (Guilford) Vol. 46; no. 8; pp. 2419 - 2423
• Main Authors: Smit, Eugene, Bűttner, Ulrich, Sanderson, Ronald D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 24-03-2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Electrospinning; Exact sciences and technology; Machinery and processing; Nanofiber; Plastics; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Spinning; Technology of polymers; Yarn; Electrospinning; Nanofiber; Yarn; Solvent spinning; Vinyl acetate polymer; Acrylonitrile polymer; Manufacturing process; Morphology; Vinylidene fluoride polymer; Synthetic fiber; Experimental study; Fiber bundle
• ISSN: 0032-3861; 1873-2291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2005.02.002

A technique for making continuous uniaxial fiber bundle yarns from electrospun fibers is described. The technique consists of spinning onto a water reservoir collector and drawing the resulting non-woven web of fibers across the water before collecting the resulting yarn. Yarns from electrospun fibers of poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinylidene difluoride) and polyacrylonitrile are used to illustrate the process of yarn formation and fiber alignment within the yarn. A theoretical production rate of 180
m of yarn per hour for a single needle electrospinning setup makes the process suitable for lab-scale production of electrospun yarns.