Preparation and properties of electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was electrospun into fibrous membranes from its solutions in a mixture of NN-dimethylformamide (DMF) and acetone. The electrospun PVDF membranes were viewed under a scanning electron microscope. Effects of acetone amount, polymer concentration, and capillary-collector distance on the morphology of the membranes were studied. It was suggested that uniform fibrous membranes with fiber diameters ranging mainly from 50 nm to 300 run were formed from a 15% (wt/v) PVDF solutions in 8 : 2 (v/v) DMF/acetone at 5-kV voltage, 0.3-mL/h flow rate, and 10 similar to 20-cm capillary-collector distance. After about 10 h of electrospinning, fibrous PVDF membranes with thickness of approximate 46 mu m were obtained. The tensile moduli and the tensile strengths of the electrospun PVDF membranes were 100 similar to 170 MPa and 4 similar to 5 MPa, respectively, from the 13% PVDF solution. Analysis of differential scanning calorimeter and wide angle X-ray diffraction showed that the crystallization of PVDF in the electrospun membranes was weakened compared to the casting film and the raw material. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.