Formation of bead-free and core–shell superfine electrospinning fibers under the assistance of another polymer and an interfacial compatibilizer

This work presents a new way of preparing bead-free and core–shell superfine polymer electrospinning fibers under the assistance of another polymer and an interfacial compatibilizer. For the electrospinning of polystyrene (PS)/CHCl 3 solution, the bead-free fiber cannot be obtained until the PS concentration is above 0.25 g/mL but its average diameter is above 10 μm. Using polyamide 6 (PA6) as an additive, the critical concentration capable of forming bead-free fiber greatly decreased and core–shell fibers with PA6 as the core and PS as the shell were obtained due to the driving effect of high spinability of PA6. The introduction of a copolymer (PS- co -TMI) of styrene (St) and 3-isopropenyl-α,α-dimethylbenzene isocyanate (TMI) can react with amine of PA6 to form the copolymer of PS and PA6 as an interfacial compatibilizer. As a result, it can further enhance the dispersion and deformation of minor component PA6 into uniform microfiber core, and drive PS to uniformly cover the surface of PA6 fibers, and finally form bead-free and core–shell superfine fibers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:1437–1444 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers