The Relationships between Process Parameters and Polymeric Nanofibers Fabricated Using a Modified Coaxial Electrospinning

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 9; no. 6; p. 843
• Main Authors: Zhou, Honglei, Shi, Zhaorong, Wan, Xi, Fang, Hualing, Yu, Deng-Guang, Chen, Xiaohong, Liu, Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02-06-2019; MDPI
• Subjects: coaxial electrospinning; Electric fields; Electrostatic properties; Ethanol; Fluid jets; Fluids; Functional materials; Ketoprofen; Methylcellulose; Nanocomposites; Nanofibers; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Parameter modification; Pharmaceutical sciences; Polymers; process parameter; Process parameters; Sheaths; spreading angle; straight fluid jet; Taylor cone; China; straight fluid jet; spreading angle; coaxial electrospinning; Taylor cone; process parameter; nanofibers
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano9060843

The concrete relationship between the process parameters and nanoproduct properties is an important challenge for applying nanotechnology to produce functional nanomaterials. In this study, the relationships between series of process parameters and the medicated nanofibers' diameter were investigated. With an electrospinnable solution of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and ketoprofen as the core fluid, four kinds of nanofibers were prepared with ethanol as a sheath fluid and under the variable applied voltages. Based on these nanofibers, a series of relationships between the process parameters and the nanofibers' diameters (
) were disclosed, such as with the height of the Taylor cone (
,
= 125 + 363
, with the angle of the Taylor cone (ɑ,
= 1576 - 19ɑ), with the length of the straight fluid jet (
,
= 285 + 209
), and with the spreading angle of the instable region (
,
= 2342 - 43
). In vitro dissolution tests verified that the smaller the diameters, the faster ketoprofen (KET) was released from the HPMC nanofibers. These concrete process-property relationships should provide a way to achieve new knowledge about the electrostatic energy-fluid interactions, and to meanwhile improve researchers' capability to optimize the coaxial process conditions to achieve the desired nanoproducts.