High-throughput production of kilogram-scale nanofibers by Kármán vortex solution blow spinning
Ziwei Li, Zhiwen Cui, Lihao Zhao, Naveed Hussain, Yanzhen Zhao, Cheng Yang, Xinyu Jiang, Lei Li, Jianan Song, Baopu Zhang, Zekun Cheng, Hui Wu
Abstract
The interaction between gas flow and liquid flow, governed by fluid dynamic principles, is of substantial importance in both fundamental science and practical applications. For instance, a precisely designed gas shearing on liquid solution may lead to efficacious production of advanced nanomaterials. Here, we devised a needleless Kármán vortex solution blow spinning system that uses a roll-to-roll nylon thread to deliver spinning solution, coupled with vertically blowing airflow to draw high-quality nanofibers with large throughput. A wide variety of nanofibers including polymers, carbon, ceramics, and composites with tunable diameters were fabricated at ultrahigh rates. The system can be further upgraded from single thread to multiple parallel threads and to the meshes, boosting the production of nanofibers to kilogram scale without compromising their quality.