Nanofibers are a critical starting material for making numerous products for environmental and energy sustainability as well as medicine and healthcare. Phase separation among polymers, substrates, solvents, and non-solvents in the liquid jet during nanofabrication determines the types of porosity, domains, and interfaces in nanofibers. However, our understanding of these actions on individual nanofibers is limited because the current technologies are incapable of providing enough spatial and temporal resolutions. We used liquid, gas, and heat to control the phase separations in situ on individual nanofibers during electrospinning process. Non-solvent induced phase separation was achieved using a non-solvent liquid core that produced hollow nanofibers displaying a large interior cavity. The use of a gas or vapor sheath and core at varying flow rates allowed for the control of surface morphology and interior structure of nanofibers, respectively. The employment of direct heating via convective air flow also affected the surface morphology and interior structure as well as diameter of the nanofibers significantly. Additionally, the hot air flow lowered the local environment surrounding the polymer jet in electrospinning, mimicking a dry atmosphere. Our study merges a fundamental study of polymer science with novel nanofabrication designs to make advanced nanofibrous materials with well-controlled polymer structures.

Tuning individual polymer nanofibers using liquid-, gas- and heat-assisted electrospinning

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