Thermoplastic Polyurethane Ultrafine Fiber Web Fabricated by Laser Electrospinning

抄録

We have investigated the effect of the spinning conditions (the applied voltage, the laser power, the laser irradiation point, and the laser beam width) in laser-heated electrospinning, on the diameter of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) microfibers. The average diameter of electrospun TPU fibers decreased with decreasing applied voltage and increasing laser power. The variation in the diameters of the obtained fibers was reduced by using a narrower laser beam. A polyurethane microfiber with an average diameter of 2.4 μm and a coefficient of variation of 8% was obtained using a 0.9-mm-wide laser beam. A narrower laser beam causes a steeper thinning profile across the fiber diameter and a steeper increase in the fiber temperature, which should stabilize the spinning line.