A Mechanistic Understanding of the Process-Property Relationships in an Alternative Electrospinning Process

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The research objective of this award is to make a paradigm shift in electrospinning, from fiber growth originating at a droplet suspended from a needle, to fiber growth from a large concentration of droplets on a charged plate, in order to significantly increase mass throughput. Furthermore, this methodology may result in the fabrication of smaller diameter fibers (~50 nm) by controlled design of the plate surface (including interfacial tension and surface architecture). In particular, the interaction between the fluid and plate will be controlled by application of patterned or continuous self-assembled monolayers. The overall deliverable of this work is to develop a mechanistic understanding of processing-property relationships in this nanofiber fabrication technique which will impact many diverse applications as described below. If successful, this research will have a technological impact on increasing nanofiber fabrication throughput, allowing further tuning of fiber size, and developing schemes to maximize property improvement with minimal particle concentration in nanocomposite fibers. These goals are crucial to ultimately utilizing nanofibers in diverse commercial applications such as tissue engineering, filtration, fuel cells, and sensors. Therefore, the results will be disseminated widely to support commercial development of highly engineered fibrous substrates for myriad applications. In addition, graduate, undergraduate, and high school students will benefit from this research program by participating in interdisciplinary research in the laboratory setting. Furthermore, the research will be integrated with an engineering senior design course and education/research in a clean room facility with an associated course on modern experimental techniques (such as lithography and high speed imaging - examples of which will be taken from this project). Finally, graduate and undergraduate students will participate as leaders in a polymer science/ engineering experience that is a significant part of a week-long program for high-school students.