The Effect of Surfactants on the Diameter and Morphology of Electrospun Ultrafine Nanofiber

Different surfactants are introduced to study the diameter and morphology transformation characteristics of electrospun nanofiber. Surfactants increase the net charge density and instability motion of charged jet. The instability motion provides a good way to stretch the charged jets into finer ones, by which the beaded structures are also prevented. Ultrafine nanofiber with average diameter less than 65 nm can be fabricated. The nanofiber diameter decreases with the increase of surfactant concentration in polymer solution. The nanofibers with anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) have the smallest diameter. The cationic surfactant hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB) plays the best role to prevent the formation of beaded structures in nanofibers, and helps to increase the uniformity of electrospun nanofiber. The effects of surfactants on the nanofiber diameter and morphology have been studied, which would promote the industrial application of ultrafine polymeric nanofibers.