pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S07 - (General Session 7) Films and Fibers
Poster Presentation
 
 

Melt Electrospun Coaxial Microfiber Processing and Properties

Lee Jason Keonhag (1), Ko Junghyuk (1), Park Simon S. (2), Jun Martin Byung-Guk (1), Lee Patrick C. (3)*

(1) University of Victoria - BC - Canada, (2) University of Calgary - Alberta - Canada, (3) University of Vermont - VT - USA

A coaxial electrospinning technique is one of the advanced fiber processing methods that can fabricate a unique structured fiber composed of a polymer matrix radially covered by another layer of polymer matrix (i.e., core-shell structure). The coaxial fiber structure is common in a solution electrospinning process [1-3] but is seldom produced in a melt electrospinning process. This work focuses on creating melt electrospun coaxial fibers with the different core to shell ratios. The coaxial fibers were composed of 14k and 45k Mw poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) resins and were produced using a custom built melt coaxial electrospinning setup. The tensile properties of different core to shell ratio coaxial fibers, such as the ultimate tensile strength, fracture strain, and Young’s modulus were characterized from the tensile tests. First, the 14k and 45k PCL were used to create the core and shell matrices, respectively, with varying core to shell ratios. The experiments were then repeated by reversing the core and shell materials, using 45k Mw in the shell chamber and 14k Mw in the core chamber. The core-shell structures and relative ratios were verified from the cross sectional images of a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The core to shell ratio of the coaxial fibers was able to be manipulated by controlling air pressures at the top of the inner and the outer chambers independently. The 14k Mw monolayer, 45k Mw monolayer, and both types of coaxial fibers with 45k/14k core/shell and 14k/45k core/shell in different ratios were fabricated and were tested for the tensile properties. The main focus of this study was to compare the tensile properties of the 14k & 45k monolayer fibers and both 45k/14k core/shell and 14k/45k core/shell coaxial fibers. Furthermore, the effect of core to shell ratios of coaxial fiber on fiber tensile properties was also of our interest.