The effect of electro blow spinning parameters on the characteristics of polylactic acid nanofibers: Towards green development of high-performance biodegradable membrane

Abstract

Electro-blow spinning represents a novel and emerging hybridised technology for producing high-quality, large-scale nanofibers. The applied pressure, accompanied by an electric field, functions as a drafting force to generate ultrafine, homogeneous nanofibers. Herein, we utilised a sustainable solvent to produce polylactic acid nanofibers via the electro-blow spinning technique. A parametric study investigating the effect of polymer concentration, pressure, and voltage on the characteristics of the produced nanofibers was thoroughly conducted. The produced nanofibers were tested using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile test. The findings revealed that air pressure plays a crucial role in the electro-blow spinning process, while introducing electric field enhances the spinnability and stretchability of nanofibers. Increasing the applied pressure and voltage led to finer fibres with improved crystallinity and mechanical strength. However, excessive pressure or voltage can cause jet instability, resulting in defects such as fused or broken fibres. Our study suggests that the most recommended parameters for uniform and high-quality nanofibers are 10 wt%, 5 bar, and 20 kV. Moreover, the polylactic acid nanofibers were further evaluated for air filtration performance using a customised filtration setup to determine their suitability as a facemask material. The results indicated a notably high filtration efficiency, reaching up to 98 %, with a corresponding pressure drop between 137 and 163 Pa. These preliminary findings strongly suggest that produced nanofibers are highly promising candidates for medical textile applications, particularly in the development of facemasks. • PLA nanofibers produced via EBS exhibited superior homogeneity and quality compared to those produced by ES and SBS. • A green production method was employed to avoid the toxicity of traditional hazardous organic solvents. • Comprehensive characterisation of PLA nanofibers was performed to identify the optimal processing parameters. • Air filtration test showed that EBS PLA nanofibers have potential for medical textile applications, including facemasks.