Electrospinning of Polymethyl Methacrylate Nanofibres in Different Solvents

Electrospinning is one of the most popular techniques for generating fibres withthe diameters ranged from tens of nanometers to several micrometers. Theproperties of as-spun nanofibres including crystallizability, mechanical performances, and biofunctioning are controlled and affected by several parameters,e.g., electrospinning solvent, temperature, humidity, and polymer characteristics. Inorder to re-verify the theory that the morphology of electrospun nanofibres is influencedby solvents used to dissolve polymer, the present study was carried out in which polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was chosen as the solute and processed into nano-fibres by means of electrospinning. Seven solvents were separately used to dissolvePMMAat the concentration of 0.06 g/mL. As a result, ring-like, bead-like, ultrafine, andnano-porous nanofibres were generated from PMMAsolutions by electrospinning.Because all solvents used in this study dissolved PMMAreadily, the different morphologies were not due to their abilities to dissolve PMMA, but rather due to otherproperties such as boiling points, molecular weight, and molecular structure. Therefore,ring-like PMMAfibres was obtained due to the high boiling point (110°C) and stereo-hindrance effect of toluene. Bead-like nanofibres were generated fromPMMA/chloroform and PMMA/dichloromethane solutions. Moreover, two kinds of ultrafine nanofibres were produced through electrospinning of PMMA/1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol, and PMMA/2,2,2-trifluoroethanol solutions.