Modeling and optimization of electrospinning of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)

Abstract

The electrospun fibers can have applications in diverse fields, such as tissue scaffolds, optical electronics, nanocatalysis, and sound absorption. Nanoscale fibers with a higher surface area can provide superior mechanical, physical, and thermal properties. Therefore, investigation of the factors affecting the electrospinning process, for various materials, is required. In this study, the design of experiments issued for optimization of electrospinning of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Taguchi orthogonal array L27OA are employed to analyze the influence of process control parameters. The variables studied are the applied voltages, solution concentrations, rotational speeds, collecting distances, and flow rates.A mathematical model of the polymer fiber diameter as a function of significant process parameters has been built using response surface methodology (RSM). The concentration percentage and the flow rate were determined to be the most significant process variables at 99% and 90% confidence levels, respectively. The predictive model provides 84.34% average model accuracy, which is considered acceptable as this study deals only with 27 of 243 trials needed for a full study based on principles of design of experiments. An additional ANOVA test and corresponding mathematical model have been developed to obtain the interaction effects for processing parameters. K E Y W O R D Sdesign of experiments, electrospinning, polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers, response surface methodology

Characterization and Release Behavior of a Thiosemicarbazone from Electrospun Polyvinyl Alcohol Core-Shell Nanofibers

“…In initial experiments, the conductivity and viscosity of polymer solutions for electrospinning containing PVA in water–ethanol solution (9:1) and various amounts of the thiosemicarbazone HapyTSCmB ( N 4-( S )-1-phenylethyl)-2-(pyridin-2-yl-ethylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide, Scheme 1 ) were measured ( Figure 1 ). The conductivity and viscosity of electrospinning polymer solutions have a strong impact on the morphology and diameter of PVA fibers [ 36 , 37 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. We found that adding 10 wt% of the TSC to the PVA solution caused a slight increase (approximately 6.5%) in conductivity and a significant decrease of about 83% in the viscosity ( Figure 1 ).…”

Towards Analysis and Optimization of Electrospun PVP (Polyvinylpyrrolidone) Nanofibers

“…Taguchi's method, being simple and robust, was used in this study for the design of experiments and the optimization. The design consists of 27 rows and 13 columns (max) with three-level variation [38]. The mean output performance and variation were studied with the applied Taguchi's quality loss function design.…”

Electrospinning of PLA and PLA/POSS nanofibers: Use of Taguchi optimization for process parameters

“…Furthermore, in order to determine “accuracy”, i.e., confidence level of the Taguchi S/N approach, results of the confirmation experiment could be compared with the estimated values. For this purpose, the “estimated S/N ratio” can be calculated by using the following relation 28 : where is the total mean of the S/N ratio while is the mean of the S/N ratios for each parameter level. Then, the “estimated average diameter” can be calculated by using the relation: …”

“…In the literature, although the Taguchi technique has been used to optimize electrospinning parameters of various polymer nanofibers 21–31 ; the number of the studies reported so far for the PLA‐based materials are extremely limited. There are only two studies reported for the neat PLA and one study reported for the halloysite nanotube (HNT) filled PLA, as summarized below.…”