Week 4 Results

During lab on April 25, the group began our first tests on the electrospinner. Unfortunately, due to problems with strings attached to the gears, we were only able to have the electrospinner run for about 10 to 15 minutes. Initially the original width between the gears was greater than the pan holding the polymer, meaning we were required to restitch the strings on the gears twice. The second time, the strings would not stay attached to the gear, meaning I had to consistently restring the gears. Due to this time constraint, it gave little time for nanofibers to form that would be noticeable.

For this test, we used a polymer provided to us by our advisor of five weight percent PEO H₂O SSA (with no salt) dating back to February 16, 2012. The gears were separated seven centimeters apart from the inside of each gear and with a total of 12 strings able to hold the polymer droplets. The aluminum foil was place above the gears, with the shinier part of the foil facing down towards the gears and polymer. Inside the aluminum foil was a sheet of copper mesh that assisted in collecting nanofibers. If you look closely you can see droplets of polymer attached to the strings. However, the sheerness of the polymer would make it difficult to see any nanofibers heading for the aluminum and with time constraints, there is little chance any nanofibers can be seen on the aluminum by the naked eye.