Modeling Of Crystallizing Polymer Melts In Electrospinning

In electrospinning, applied electric field elongates a charged fluid jet to produce nanofibers. While most polymer melts result in highly-aligned amorphous structures, some fast-crystallizing polymers such as Nylon can produce semicrystalline fibers, and by controlling this crystallinity the mechanical properties of electrospun fibers can be tailored. Short inflight residence times, high extensional forces, and radially-uniform stress distributions in electrospinning result in the dominance of flow induced crystallization (FIC) and a nearly 1D microstructure. We present our FIC model based on Kolmogoroff's equation, Hoffman-Lauritzen theory, and key modifications from molecular scale insights to account for flow effects. The model behavior is compared to the conventional Ziabicki FIC model using Nylon-6,6 as the model polymer.