An experimental design approach to examine the influencing parameters of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) nanofibrous nonwoven by solution blow spinning

Abstract

Green polymers have gained popularity in recent decades because of the rising pollution in the world. Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) is an aliphatic polyester and a relatively new polymer. PBS is regarded as one of the most promising materials for various applications due to its exceptional processability and regulated biodegradability and attracts the attention of many researchers. The application fields of its products when combined with the solution blow spinning (SBS) method, may be expanded to textiles, food, packaging, filters, batteries, and biomedical due to its outstanding biodegradability, processability, and thermal and chemical resistance. Therefore, this study focused on the SBS process as a PBS polymer solution to scale up the nanofibers manufacturing process to the commercial level. In this research, PBS nonwovens were produced by an SBS apparatus. The effects of spinning parameters (solution concentration, air pressure, and flow rate) on the average fiber diameter were studied. The PBS solution blown nonwovens was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. A software was used to measure fiber diameter and distribution. PBS nonwovens were mostly on a nanometer scale with the presence of a few defects. A full factorial design was used to the test data for statistical analysis to investigate how solution concentration, air pressure, and flow rate influenced average fiber diameter. The impact of process control factors is examined using analysis of variance. Results have shown that solution concentration significantly influenced of mean diameter. The fast and economic feature of the SBS process, as well as the environmentally friendly nature of the PBS polymer, may considerably contribute to the industrial-scale manufacturing of nanofibrous nonwoven made from this polymer.