Electrospun Teflon AF fibers for superhydrophobic membranes

Superhydrophobic membranes have the potential to protect devices from incidental exposure to water. This paper reports on the processing of Teflon AF fluoropolymers through electrospinning. Teflon AF is difficult to electrospin due to its low dielectric constant and the low dielectric constants of the liquids in which it is soluble. The two approaches that have been utilized to produce fibers are direct electrospinning in Novec engineering liquids and core-shell electrospinning. Both methods produced superhydrophobic membranes. Fibers with an average diameter of 290 nm and average water contact angle of 151 degrees were obtained by core-shell electrospinning. One suggested application for electrospun superhydrophobic membranes is the lithium-air battery.