(260d) Design for Manufacturability: Linking Formulation to Processability in Electrospinning

Speeding up the product development process is essential to respond to the growing interest in customizable products, supply chain challenges and new environmental and health regulations. By integrating the product development process, considering manufacturing and scale up during the early chemistry, structure and performance studies, quality and manufacturability can be designed into the final product from the start, with enhanced fundamental knowledge on how the chemistry impacts processability. Ultrafine fibers, those with a diameter less than approximately 5 mm, play a starring role in new product research in the fiber and textile industry, both for conventional textiles such as clothing and furnishing and for technical textiles in electronics, bioengineering, sensors and more. To better understand how the material components of the solution effect the ability to form fibers via electrospinning, we focus on the response of the fluid to the extensional stress encountered during the process. We use dripping-onto-substrate (DOS) extensional rheometry to examine polymer solutions with different compositions, in particular different surface tensions, conductivities and polymer molecular weights, and tie these parameters to spinnability using rheological parameters. We show that the extensional rheology can be used to predict the three different regimes of electroprocessing, formation of beads, beads-on-string and smooth fibers, for a given polymer solution and illustrate the use of these fundamental processing-formulation links in designing spinnable solutions with conductive polymers. By understanding how complex formulation properties impact the ability to form fibers via electrospinning, we can rapidly respond to consumer needs as new products are developed for high value applications, including biomedical and electronic textiles.