Effect of polymer and surfactant concentration on morphology of electrospun polyether-block-amide nanofibrous membrane

In this work, the main goal is to prepare the hydrophobic nanofibrous membranes based on the polyether-block-amide (PEBA) polymer by the electrospinning technique. The influence of the polymer concentration and surfactant concentration on the morphology and structure of the prepared membrane was investigated by the SEM analysis. The results showed that the optimum polymer concentration in the electrospun solution was 15 wt% and at this concentration the uniform nanofibers without any beads were formed. However, the thickness of the fibers enhanced with an increase in the polymer concentration. Moreover, it was observed that the incorporation of the Triton X100 as a surfactant in the electrospun polymer solution was necessary to avoid the formation of beads in the nanofibrous membranes. The addition of a surfactant into the polymer solution decreased the surface tension of the solution and led to formation of the electrospun nanofibrous membrane with uniform fibers.

Keywords:

Polyether-block-amide (PEBA) , Nanofibrous membrane , Electrospinning , Surfactant