Industrial-Scale Solution Blowing of Soy Protein Nanofibers

Abstract

Solution blowing is one of the most industrially viable processes for mass production of nanofibers without significant change of trade practices. In this work a novel industrially scalable approach to nanofiber production by solution blowing is demonstrated using Biax die. Blends of biopolymer soy protein isolate Clarisoy 100 and poly­(ethylene oxide) (M w = 600 kDa) were solution blown as aqueous solutions using a spinneret with 8 rows with 41 concentric annular nozzles. Nanofiber mats were collected on a drum, and samples with an area of the order of 0.1–1 m2 were formed in about 10 s. Nanofibers were relatively uniform with the diameters of about 500–600 nm. Theoretical aspects of capillary instability, dripping, and fly formation in solution blowing relevant from the experimental point of view are discussed, as well as ways of their prevention are revealed.

Breakup process of cylindrical viscous liquid specimens after a strong explosion in the core

“…The overall agreement of the predictions with the experimental data is quite satisfactory. The change in the perturbation growth rate in time stems from the time dependence of the basic flow, which has a stabilizing effect similarly to the case of the capillary breakup of thin liquid jets undergoing stretching27 . The fastest perturbation growth rate versus time.…”

A Review of the Fundamental Principles and Applications of Solution Blow Spinning

“…(C) Multinozzle SBS process using a die with 41 nozzles per row and 8 rows. Adapted with permission from ref 27. Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society.…”

A Review on Biopolymer-Based Fibers via Electrospinning and Solution Blowing and Their Applications

“…Although the individual fabrication method has its own advantages, electrospinning is the most popular one, because of its relative simplicity and scalability to produce fibers from 1 µm-100 nm reproducibly [44][45][46]. Solution blowing, a process kindred to melt blowing, is the most industrially explored technique for large-scale fabrication of nanofibers without major alteration of textile practices, and has a similar production rate to the latter method [47].…”

“…The key components in solution blowing are-(a) well designed co-axial die, with core nozzle for polymer solution flow and shell nozzle for high speed air flow (see Figure 3b); and (b) high speed air-supply. The feed rate of the polymer solution via a single nozzle can be as high as 10 mL/h, as described by Kolbasov et al, (2015) [47]. Air flow is generally of the order of 150-200 m/s at 3-5 bar of pressure.…”