Large-Scale and Highly Efficient Production of Ultrafine PVA Fibers by Electro-Centrifugal Spinning for NH3 Adsorption

Ultrafine Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers have an outstanding potential in various applications, especially in absorbing fields. In this manuscript, an electrostatic-field-assisted centrifugal spinning system was designed to improve the production efficiency of ultrafine PVA fibers from PVA aqueous solution for NH3 adsorption. It was established that the fiber production efficiency using this self-designed system could be about 1000 times higher over traditional electrospinning system. The produced PVA fibers establish high morphology homogeneity. The impact of processing variables of the constructed spinning system including rotation speed, needle size, liquid feeding rate, and voltage on fiber morphology and diameter was systematically investigated by SEM studies. To acquire homogeneous ultrafine PVA fiber membranes, the orthogonal experiment was also conducted to optimize the spinning process parameters. The impact weight of different studied parameters on the spinning performance was thus provided. The experimental results showed that the morphology of micro/nano-fibers can be well controlled by adjusting the spinning process parameters. Ultrafine PVA fibers with the diameter of 2.55 mu m were successfully obtained applying the parameters, including rotation speed (6500 rpm), needle size (0.51 mm), feeding rate (3000 mL h(-1)), and voltage (20 kV). Furthermore, the obtained ultrafine PVA fiber mat was demonstrated to be capable of selectively adsorbing NH3 gas relative to CO2, thus making it promising for NH3 storage and other environmental purification applications.

Automated summary

Ultrafine PVA fibers were produced with high efficiency using a self-designed electrostatic-field-assisted centrifugal spinning system. The system improved the production efficiency by about 1000 times compared to traditional electrospinning. The spinning process parameters, including rotation speed, needle size, liquid feeding rate, and voltage, were systematically investigated, and optimized to obtain uniform ultrafine PVA fiber membranes with a diameter of 2.55 μm. The obtained ultrafine PVA fiber mat exhibited selective adsorption of NH3 gas, making it promising for NH3 storage and environmental purification applications.