pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S02 - Films and Fibers
Oral Presentation
 
 

Manufacturing of PVDF Micro and Nanofibers

Azzaz Mohamed Cherif (1)*, Mattoso Luiz Henrique (2), Demarquette Nicole R. (1), Zednik Ricardo J. (1)

(1) Ecole de technologie supérieure - Quebec - Canada, (2) Embrapa Instrumentação - Sao Paulo - Brazil

In this work, functional nanofibers based on piezoelectric polymer, which is Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), were produced using solution electrospinning and solution blow spinning technique. Solution blow spinning technique is a new fibers production technique that is conceptually similar to electrospinning, but without using an electrical field. Instead, gas is blown along the outside of the nozzle (emitter), thereby “blowing” the fiber and pulling it out of the nozzle. By using this technique, it is possible to eliminate the electrical field and to evaluate its effect on the crystallization of PVDF nanofibers. Particularly, we found that without using the electrical field, PVDF fibers can be crystallize under the piezoelectric β phase and with comparable diameter to that of the electrospun fibers. FTIR and XRD analysis indicate that the same volume fraction of the polar phase can be obtained with or without applying an electrical field. These results put at stake the belief that the electrical field is responsible for the enhancement of the polar β phase during electrospinning process.