Polyacrylonitrile nanofiber yarns and fabrics produced using a novel electrospinning method combined with traditional textile techniques

Abstract

Highly aligned polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber yarns were prepared continuously by a modified electrospinning method. The effects of the different spinning parameters, including applied voltage, solution flow rate, distance between two needles, distance between the neutral metal disc (NMD) and neutral hollow metal rod (NHMR) and rotation speed of the NMD, on yarn formation and physical characteristics of the nanofibers and the yarns were analytically investigated. The distance between two needles, distance between the NMD and NHMR and rotation speed of the NMD were found to be three main parameters affecting nanofiber alignment of the resultant yarns. The results also showed that the applied voltage and rotation speed of the NMD had a very slight effect on diameters of nanofibers. The diameters of both nanofibers and yarns increased to a threshold value and started to reduce thereafter with the distance between two needles increasing. The diameters of both nanofibers and yarns presented the increasing trend at the higher flow rate. Meanwhile, the yarn diameters decreased with increasing the distance between the NMD and NHMR and the rotation speed of the NMD. Moreover, the effect of nanofiber alignment on the mechanical property of the resultant PAN nanofiber yarns was also investigated in this paper. It was found that the increase in the fiber alignment brought about the improvement in the yarn tensile strength. Eventually, the obtained continuous PAN nanofiber yarns were employed to manufacture fabrics by traditional textile techniques, including braiding, weaving and knitting, which showed the potential application in the textile industry.