Influence of Substrate Materials on Electrospun PAN Nanofiber Mats

Nanofibers can be produced, e.g., by electrospinning. Different electrospinning technologies can be used to create nanofiber mats from diverse polymers, often blended with other polymeric or ceramic materials. While the influence of solution and spinning parameters is often reported in the literature, the effect of the substrate is mostly ignored. Here we give an overview of the influence of diverse substrates which were used for electrospinning polyacrylonitrile nanofibers. The polypropylene nonwoven which is typically used in a Nanospider electrospinning machine is compared with sticky tape, baking paper, wrapping film, aluminum foil and other easily available substrates, showing that fiber mat densities and fiber diameters change with the substrate. This finding opens a new possibility to tailor nanofiber mat morphologies without changing the spinning solution or the process parameters. Additionally, an interesting effect was found during electrospinning on aluminum foil - only on this material, the nanofiber mat adhered strongly on the substrate. Abrasion tests performed with a linear abrasion tester underlined the strong adhesion between both materials.