Determination of the Operational Parameters for the Manufacturing of Spherical PVP Particles via Electrospray

Abstract

This work aims at bridging experimental and numerical approaches to determine the optimal operating parameters for the fabrication of well-shaped polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) particles via electrohydrodynamic atomization. Particular emphasis is given to the role of the PVP solution viscosity. Solutions of PVP at various concentrations dissolved in Dimethylformamide (DMF) were prepared and analyzed. Numerical simulation using a coupled electro-CFD model was used to determine the ranges of experimental flow rate and the voltage, ensuring that well-shaped spherical particles are produced. It was deduced that the optimal combination of the parameters (flow rate, voltage, and polymer concentration) can be well approximated by a scaling law. The established relationship allowed determination of a stability island that guarantees that the given polymer solution will form spherical particles. Analyzing morphology and sizes of the particles manufactured in the optimal parameters range, we show, among others, that the size of the PVP particles can be predicted as a function of the flow rate by a power scaling relationship.

Improving glass‐fiber epoxy composites via interlayer toughening with polyacrylonitrile/multiwalled carbon nanotubes electrospun fibers

“…Similarly, the carbon nanotubes/polymer mixtures were fabricated as follows. First, a homogenous PAN/DMF solution containing the adequate content of the polymer was prepared following the procedure aforementioned 23,32 . According to the TM, the optimal content of the polymer was set at 12 wt% and therefore all the PAN/MWCNTs fibers were prepared by keeping this concentration constant.…”

“…First, a homogenous PAN/ DMF solution containing the adequate content of the polymer was prepared following the procedure aforementioned. 23,32 According to the TM, the optimal content of the polymer was set at 12 wt% and therefore all the PAN/MWCNTs fibers were prepared by keeping this concentration constant. Then, different amounts of MWCNTs powder were added directly to the PAN/DMF solution: were poured into a 10 ml plastic syringe and then vaporized vertically and collected on parchment paper.…”

An enriched finite element/level-set model for two-phase electrohydrodynamic simulations

“…( 16); assemble and solve mass/momentum system [Eqs. (15) and ( 16)] for velocity u and pressure p; go to next time step because they do not exhibit deviations from the exact solution, even though they were obtained on a very coarse grid. The errors in the computed electric field are shown in Table III).…”

“…Several classes of numerical schemes have been reported in the literature for treating such discontinuities. Based on how the interface is treated, the most common classes of methods are levelset, [8][9][10][11][12] volume-of-fluid, [13][14][15] and phase-field. 16,17 Other methods include the lattice-Boltzmann, 18,19 smoothed-particle-hydrodynamics, 20,21 Immerse Interface Method (IIM), 9,22 embedded Eulerian-Lagrangian, 23,24 and Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM), 25,26 to name just a few.…”

Fabrication, Physical–Chemical and Biological Characterization of Retinol-Loaded Poly(vinyl Alcohol) Electrospun Fiber Mats for Wound Healing Applications

“…Optimal conditions occur when a single Taylor cone is formed. Actually, during this process, the solvent in the solution evaporates, the polymer solidifies and can be collected on the opposite electrode, in the form of fiber, bead, or a combination of these structures, depending on different factors related to (i)—experimental set-up, (ii)—environmental conditions, (iii)—solution’s physico–chemical properties [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. As a matter of fact, many polymers both from synthetic/natural sources have been tried in the fabrication of electrospun-based wound dressing materials such as silk fibroin, keratin, chitosan, collagen, hyaluronic acid, casein, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(lactic Acid) (PGA), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(methoxydiethyleneglycol methacrylate) (PDEGMA), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polycaprolactone (PCL) [ 33 ], and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), among others [ 24 , 25 , 34 ].…”