COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF COLLECTOR GEOMETRY ON ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBER MORPHOLOGY AND POROSITY USING MULTIPLE POLYMERS

Abstract

In this study, nanofibers were produced via electrospinning using five different polymers – polyacrylonitrile (PAN), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) – and the effects of three different collector geometries (flat aluminum foil, wire mesh, and bowl-shaped collector) on fiber morphology and porosity were investigated. Notably, using a bowl-shaped collector led to the formation of three-dimensional cotton-like nanofiber structures. Morphological analysis of the electrospun fibers was performed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and fiber diameter distributions and porosity were determined using ImageJ analysis of the SEM images. The results demonstrate that both the polymer type and the collector geometry play a decisive role in nanofiber formation. This work highlights the importance of collector selection in the design of electrospun nanofiber mats and suggests new approaches for creating three-dimensional nanofiber architectures.

Keywords

• Electrospinning
• Nanofibers
• Collector geometry
• Polymer type
• Porosity
• Morphology

Ethical Statement

The study complies with research and publication ethics.

Thanks

This study was conducted at the Molecular Nano-Materials Laboratory, and the author gratefully acknowledge the support and facilities provided during the research.

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