Hierarchical Motion of Charged Jets in Electrospinning and Nanofibers with Minimal Diameter of about 5nm

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with a degree of 1750±50 was successfully fabricated into nanofibers via the traditional electrospinning process. Daughter charged jets and combined fibers were observed. A combined fiber might be simple combination of two separate fibers without mass transfer, or it is a daughter cascade caused in hierarchical motion of a charged jet with mass/energy transfer. Minimal fiber reaches as small as 5nm (50 angstroms) in diameter, this might be the smallest artificial fiber, which might have excellent properties due to nanoeffect.