Koenig Kylie, Beukenberg Konrad, Langensiepen Fabian, Seide Gunnar
Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM), Maastricht University, Brightlands Chemelot Campus, Urmonderbaan 22, 6167 RD Geleen, The Netherlands.
Biomater Res. 2019 Mar 29;23:10. doi: 10.1186/s40824-019-0159-9. eCollection 2019.
Sub-microfibers and nanofibers have a high surface-to-volume ratio, which makes them suitable for diverse applications including environmental remediation and filtration, energy production and storage, electronic and optical sensors, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. However, the use of such materials is limited by the low throughput of established manufacturing technologies. This short report provides an overview of current production methods for sub-microfibers and nanofibers and then introduces a new melt-electrospinning prototype based on a spinneret with 600 nozzles, thereby providing an important step towards larger-scale production. The prototype features an innovative collector that achieves the optimal spreading of the fiber due to its uneven surface, as well as a polymer inlet that ensures even polymer distribution to all nozzles. We prepared a first generation of biobased fibers with diameters ranging from 1.000 to 7.000 μm using polylactic acid and 6% (/w) sodium stearate, but finer fibers could be produced in the future by optimizing the prototype and the composition of the raw materials. Melt electrospinning using the new prototype is a promising method for the production of high-quality sub-microfibers and nanofibers.
亚微纤维和纳米纤维具有高的比表面积，这使其适用于多种应用，包括环境修复与过滤、能源生产与存储、电子和光学传感器、组织工程以及药物递送。然而，此类材料的使用受到现有制造技术低产量的限制。本简短报告概述了当前亚微纤维和纳米纤维的生产方法，然后介绍了一种基于具有600个喷嘴的喷丝头的新型熔体静电纺丝原型，从而朝着大规模生产迈出了重要一步。该原型具有一个创新的收集器，由于其表面不均匀而实现了纤维的最佳铺展，以及一个聚合物入口，可确保聚合物均匀分布到所有喷嘴。我们使用聚乳酸和6%（/w）硬脂酸钠制备了第一代直径范围为1.000至7.000μm的生物基纤维，但未来通过优化原型和原材料组成可以生产出更细的纤维。使用新原型的熔体静电纺丝是生产高质量亚微纤维和纳米纤维的一种有前途的方法。
