Abstract
Electrospun fiber mats are promising media for chemical separation because of their porous interior and high surface area, which enhance penetrant permeation and provide a large number of active sites. The application of this technology was fulfilled in the present study, wherein syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) fibers were prepared by high-temperature solution electrospinning to absorb volatile organic compounds. The as-spun sPS fibers had an average radius of ~360 nm and were amorphous as revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. When the electrospun fibers were exposed to different solvent vapors, solvent-induced crystallization occurred in these submicron-sized fibers to form δ- or γ-form sPS crystals, depending on the solvent used. To trace the microstructure transformation of sPS chains induced by the solvent vapors, in situ FTIR spectral measurements were performed. The absorbance of crystallization-sensitive IR bands was plotted against time, from which the crystallization kinetics were analyzed based on the Avrami equation. Results showed that the rate of solvent-induced crystallization was higher for solvents with a higher saturated vapor pressure. Subsequent solvent desorption from the crystallized sPS fibers was also studied under ambient conditions by monitoring the absorbance variation of the solvent-sensitive IR band. Two-stage solvent desorption was observed in the δ-form sPS fibers; this process consisted of initial rapid desorption from the amorphous region, followed by slow desorption from the crystalline region. Notably, all the solvent molecules in the treated fibers can be completely removed in this manner, thereby leading to the formation of δ e-form crystals for repetitive sorption/desorption applications.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gowd EB, Tashiro K, Ramesh C (2009) Prog Polym Sci 34:280–315
Milano G, Guerra G (2009) Prog Mater Sci 54:68–88
Chatani Y, Shimane Y, Inagaki T, Ijitsu T, Yukinari T, Shikuma H (1993) Polymer 34:1620–1624
Rizzo P, Albunia AR, Guerra G (2005) Polymer 46:9549–9554
Milano G, Venditto V, Guerra G, Cavallo L, Ciambelli P, Sannino D (2001) Chem Mater 13:1506–1511
Uda Y, Kaneko F, Kawaguchi T (2004) Polymer 45:2221–2229
Ma W, Yu J, He J (2005) Macromolecules 38:4755–4760
Huang ZM, Zhang YZ, Kotaki M, Ramakrishna S (2003) Compos Sci Technol 63:2223–2253
Reneker DH, Yarin AL (2008) Polymer 49:2387–2425
Greiner A, Wendorff JH (2007) Angew Chem Int Ed 46:5670–5703
Zhu H, Qiu S, Jiang W, Wu D, Zhang C (2011) Environ Sci Technol 45:4527–4531
Bertarelli C, Zanutta A, Bianco A, Daniel C (2011) Soft Mater 9:303–312
Givens SR, Gardner KH, Rabolt JF, Chase DB (2007) Macromolecules 40:608–610
Rein DM, Shavit-Hadar L, Khalfin RL, Cohen Y, Shuster K, Zussman E (2007) J Polym Sci Polym Phys 45:766–773
Yoshioka T, Dersch R, Tsuji M, Schaper AK (2010) Polymer 51:2383–2389
Cheng Y, Lu H, Wang Y, Thierry A, Lotz B, Wang C (2010) Macromolecules 43:2371–2376
Tashiro K, Ueno Y, Yoshioka A, Kobayashi M (2001) Macromolecules 34:310–315
Yoshioka A, Tashiro K (2003) Polymer 44:6681–6688
Brandrup J, Immergut EH (1989) Polymer handbook, 3rd ed. Wiley-Interscience, New York, sec. III
Durning CJ, Rebenfeld WB, Russel WB, Weigmann HD (1986) J Polym Sci Polym Phys 24:1321–1340
Ouyang H, Lee WH, Shih MC (2002) Macromolecules 35:8428–8432
Wunderlich B (1976) Macromolecular physics, Vol. 2. Academic, New York
Gowd EB, Shibayama N, Tashiro K (2008) Macromolecules 41:2541–2547
Ritger PL, Reppas NA (1987) J Contrl Release 5:23–36
Wang TT, Kwei TK (1973) Macromolecules 6:919–921
Bernes AR, Hopfenberg HB (1982) J Membr Sci 10:283–303
Venditto V, Del Mauro ADG, Mensitieri G, Milano G, Musto P, Rizzo P, Guerra G (2006) Chem Mater 18:2205–2210
Gowd EB, Tashiro K (2007) Macromolecules 40:5366–5371
Gowd EB, Shibayama N, Tashiro K (2006) Macromolecules 39:8412–8418
Vrentas JS, Jarzebski CM, Duda JL (1975) AIChE J 21:894–901
Durning CJ, Rebenfeld L, Russel WB, Weigmann HD (1986) J Polym Sci Polym Phys 24:1341–1360
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (NSC96-2918-I-006-011 and MOST103-2221-E-006-262-MY3).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Avrami plots of solvent-treated fibers.
Figure S1
(DOC 120 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cheng, YW., Wang, C. Solvent-induced crystallization of electrospun syndiotactic polystyrene nanofibers and its reversible desorption/sorption of volatile organic vapors. J Polym Res 23, 234 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-016-1130-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-016-1130-2