Fabrication of optically active fiber mats via melt electrospinning

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Fabrication of optically active fiber mats via melt electrospinning John P. Murphy, and Molly C. Brockway, Montana Tech Nanotechnology Laboratory, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA; Montana University System Materials Science Ph.D. Program, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA Jessica M. Andriolo, and Nathan J. Sutton, Montana Tech Nanotechnology Laboratory, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, Montana Tech, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA Jack L. Skinner, Montana Tech Nanotechnology Laboratory, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA; Montana University System Materials Science Ph. D. Program, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA; Mechanical Engineering Department, Montana Tech, 1300 W. Park St., Butte, MT 59701, USA Address all correspondence to John P. Murphy at [email protected] (Received 15 June 2018; accepted 26 July 2018)

Abstract Melt electrospinning is a facile fabrication technique that can be utilized in the creation of microfibers without the use of solvent and with good control over feature placement. The available thermal energy of the melt electrospinning technique is often only utilized in the formation of the polymer melt but can also be used to thermodynamically drive chemical reactions. In this study, hybrid perovskite microcrystallites are synthesized in the polymer melt and electrospun to form composite microfibers. Unique hybrid perovskite microstructures were studied, elucidating mechanisms of formation at work in the polymer melt.

Introduction Since its first practical demonstration in 1981, the melt electrospinning fabrication technique has been under-utilized as a technique for the production of polymer microfibers due to several factors, principally amongst them the lack of ability to produce nanoscale fibers. In recent years the dimension of features achievable via the melt electrospinning technique has been significantly reduced,[2,3] and the lack of solvents used in the fabrication process has enabled the creation of bioscaffolding structures for use in tissue and organ growth.[4] Additionally, the melt electrospinning technique allows for greater control over feature placement and demonstrates minimal charge accumulation on deposited fibers structures, allowing multiple layers of fibers to be deposited sequentially on top of each other and resulting in the creation of three-dimensional fiber structures.[3] Even with increased use of the melt electrospinning technique to produce fiber mats for filtration and biomedical applications, the critical parameter unique to melt electrospinning, thermal energy, is still under-utilized. In the creation of polymer melts, a great deal of thermal energy is expended and utilized solely in melting the polymer; thermal energy transferred to and removed from the polymer melt during melt electrospinning could be utilized to drive chemical reactions in the polymer melt prior to extrusion into the high strength electric field. A solid-state reaction of particular interest is the reaction between lead