Saraff Shaashwat, Ghosh Kalyan, Natarajan Thiyagarajan, Lampronti Giulio Isacco, Kar-Narayan Sohini
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB3 0FS, United Kingdom.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2025 Jul;46(13):e2500099. doi: 10.1002/marc.202500099. Epub 2025 Mar 29.
Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) is an important piezoelectric polymer, often electrospun into fibrous membranes for technological applications. Typically, this involves toxic solvents, necessitating a compromise between solvent safety, process stability, and fiber quality. In this study, out of several candidates across different organic families, a safe and effective solvent is identified for electrospinning P(VDF-TrFE). The dual impact of solvent boiling point on process stability and fiber quality is studied, to arrive at a facile, consistent protocol for producing high-quality fibers. The health effects of the solvents are considered, as those posing minimal risks are favored in applications related to biomedicine, for example. Methyl propyl ketone (MPK) is found to be an ideal, non-toxic solvent, with an optimal evaporation rate at typical processing temperatures, to produce uniform, distinct and well-aligned electrospun P(VDF-TrFE) fibers. The impact of electrospinning process parameters is further investigated to optimize results using this solvent. Through the introduction of a benign and effective solvent for electrospinning, this work provides a detailed protocol to produce high-quality P(VDF-TrFE) fibers through a consistent and stable process, without involving toxic solvents, which opens up new possibilities in green electrospinning.
聚（偏二氟乙烯 - 三氟乙烯）（P（VDF-TrFE））是一种重要的压电聚合物，常用于通过静电纺丝制成纤维膜以用于技术应用。通常情况下，这需要使用有毒溶剂，因此必须在溶剂安全性、工艺稳定性和纤维质量之间做出妥协。在本研究中，从不同有机家族的几种候选溶剂中，确定了一种用于静电纺丝P（VDF-TrFE）的安全有效溶剂。研究了溶剂沸点对工艺稳定性和纤维质量的双重影响，以得出一种简便、一致的生产高质量纤维的方案。考虑了溶剂对健康的影响，例如在与生物医学相关的应用中，那些风险最小的溶剂更受青睐。发现甲基丙基酮（MPK）是一种理想的无毒溶剂，在典型加工温度下具有最佳蒸发速率，可生产出均匀、清晰且排列良好的静电纺丝P（VDF-TrFE）纤维。进一步研究了静电纺丝工艺参数的影响，以使用该溶剂优化结果。通过引入一种用于静电纺丝的良性有效溶剂，这项工作提供了一个详细的方案，通过一致且稳定的工艺生产高质量的P（VDF-TrFE）纤维，而不涉及有毒溶剂，这为绿色静电纺丝开辟了新的可能性。
