Fabricating Fibers of a Porous-Polystyrene Shell and Particle-Loaded Core

Molecules

Sumedh Shukla¹  Namrata Kanth¹  Sayli Jambhulkar²  Rahul Franklin²  Kenan Song³  Weiheng Xu³  Dharneedar Ravichandran³ 

[1] Engineering, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy (SEMTE), Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA;;Materials Science &System Engineering, The Polytechnic School (TPS), Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212, USA;

关键词: fibers;    polymers;    porous;    composites;    polystyrene;    polyethylene glycol;    spinning;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules24224142

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Polystyrene (PS) polymers have broad applications in protective packaging for food shipping, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery and the making of models. Currently, most PS products, such as foams, are not accepted for recycling due to a low density in the porous structure. This poses a challenge for logistics as well as creating a lack of incentive to invest in high-value products. This study, however, demonstrated the use of a dry-jet wet-spinning technique to manufacture continuous PS fibers enabled by an in-house designed and developed spinning apparatus. The manufactured fibers showed porosity in the shell and the capability to load particles in their core, a structure with high potential use in environmentally relevant applications such as water treatment or CO₂ collections. A two-phase liquid-state microstructure was first achieved via a co-axial spinneret. Following coagulation procedures and heat treatment, phase-separation-based selective dissolution successfully generated the porous-shell/particle-core fibers. The pore size and density were controlled by the porogen (i.e., PEG) concentrations and examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fiber formation dynamics were studied via rheology tests and gelation measurements. The shell components were characterized by tensile tests, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry for mechanical durability and thermal stability analyses.

【 授权许可】

Unknown