Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-14-2020
Abstract
In the present research project, a novel portable battery-powered handheld device able to produce micron and submicron fibers using centrifugal forces is proposed. The design includes spinnerets with a clamshell configuration with multiple chambers or reservoirs (2, 4, and 8) and different exit orifice diameters (400, 500, 600, and 800 µm). The rotational speed is controlled via an Arduino microcontroller. To validate the design, a series of experiments were conducted and the effect of the orifice diameter, number of chambers, and velocity on the resulting fibers’ diameter and yield was studied. For the experiments, a polymeric solution of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) was prepared. The fiber yield was gravimetrically quantified, and the fiber morphology and diameter were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results showed that spinnerets with an orifice diameter of 500 microns yielded the greatest amount of fibers (0.0777 g). In addition, the number of chambers also affected the amount of fibers produced, and it was determined that the fiber diameter size is dependent on the spinneret speed. Fibers 80 nm in diameter were observed at 6500 rpm.
Recommended Citation
Potter, G.; Barbosa, R.; Villarreal, A.; Salinas, A.; Guzman, H.; De Leon, H.; Ortega, J.A.; Lozano, K. Design and Validation of a Portable Handheld Device to Produce Fine Fibers Using Centrifugal Forces. Instruments 2020, 4, 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/instruments4030027
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Instruments
DOI
10.3390/instruments4030027
Comments
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.