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Correlation between the onset of beadless character of nanofibrous webs and rheological characteristics of electrospun polymer solutions
Zelenková, Jana ; Peer, Petra ; Filip, Petr
An overwhelming majority of applications of nanofibrous webs requires sufficiently smooth character of nanofibres surface. This character is apart other parameters strongly influenced by a concentration of chosen polymeric material in the solvents. Qualitative attributes roughly depend on the prepared concentration, specifically whether it belongs to one of the four basic regions: dilute, semidilute unentangled, semidilute entangled and concentrated. A concentration separating the latter two regions is often taken as a zero-th approximation indicating an onset of beadless nanofibrous webs. The present contribution uses as a more precise indicator behaviour of so-called phase angle relating viscous and elastic moduli, in other words mutual participation of viscous and elastic components. To this aim three frequently used polymers were used: copolymer of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-co-HFP), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB). For materials exhibiting first a constant behaviour or moderate decrease in a phase angle for lower concentrations, an approximation of the starting concentration is given by a concentration value where a phase angle curve starts to decrease, apparently reflecting a more progressive viscoelastic nature. As shown, such approximation provides relatively very good approximation enabling to eliminate a traditional trial-and-error method.
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Antibacterial electrospun membrane prepared from poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene with lauric acid monoacylglycerol
Zelenková, Jana ; Peer, Petra ; Pleva, P. ; Janalíková, M. ; Sedlaříková, J. ; Filip, Petr
The aim of this study was to prepare an antibacterial nanofibrous membrane using electrospinning technique. The nanofibrous membranes were spun from polymer solution of poly(vinylidne fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-co-HFP) dissolved in N,N´-dimethylformamide. Monoacylglycerol of lauric acid (MAG C12) was used as an antimicrobial agent at the concentrations ranging from 1 to 3 wt%. The impact of MAG C12 incorporation on the rheological, structural and antibacterial properties was investigated. The rheological tests of polymer solutions, as steady shear and oscillatory shear, proved that addition of MAG C12 changed marginally rheological quantities such as viscosity, elastic (storage) and viscous (loss) moduli. Measurement of mean nanofibres diameter indicated a slight decrease with increasing MAG C12 concentration. Antimicrobial activity of PVDF-co-HFP nanofibre membranes with incorporated MAG C12 against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli was studied. An antibacterial activity was revealed for the samples containing MAG C12 at all concentrations against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus by the disk diffusion method.
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Magnetic properties of electrospun polyvinyl butyral/Fe2O3 nanofibrous membranes
Peer, Petra ; Cvek, M. ; Urbánek, M. ; Sedlačík, M.
In this contribution, magnetic Fe2O3 nanoparticles (MNPs) were successfully incorporated into the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) nanofibrous membranes using the electrospinning process. The effects of the MNP concentration on the morphology of the nanofibres and their magnetic properties were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed their concentration-dependent, yet uniform diameter, and the presence of well-embedded MNPs inside the PVB nanofibres. The magnetic properties of the PVB/MNP membranes were studied using the vibrating-sample magnetometry. The saturation magnetization increased from 6.4 to 45.5 emu/g as the MNP concentration in the feedstock solution increased from 1 to 15 wt%. The fabricated PVB/MNP nanofibrous membranes possessed the ability to respond to the external magnetic fields, which determines their potential in the development of the advanced smart textiles.
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Preparation and characterization of fibrous non-woven textile decorated by silver nanoparticles for water filtration
Peer, Petra ; Polášková, M. ; Mosnáček, J. ; Sedlařiková, J. ; Masař, M.
The environmentally friendly preparation of silver nanoparticles was proposed for the production of antibacterial non-woven textile used in water filtration. The silver nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction of silver nitrate using two environmentally friendly reducing agents, such as fructose or ascorbic acid. For comparison also commonly used reducing agent-sodium borohydride was used. The silver nanoparticles in various size and yield were produced by immersion of the plasma pre-treated polypropylene (PP) nonwoven textile in the colloidal solutions for different periods (35, 45 and 135 min). The morphology of the silver nanoparticles was characterized by SEM and EDX analysis. Additionally, the antibacterial activity of the silver decorated PP non-woven textile was evaluated by an agar diffusion test using both Gram-positive Staphylococcus Aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli. The results suggest that the type of the reducing agent has major effect both on the morphology of silver nanoparticles and the antibacterial activity.
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Dependence of morphology of electrospun PVB nanofibres containing fumed silica on elasticity of the processed solutions
Peer, Petra ; Polášková, M. ; Filip, Petr
Application of various types of fumed silica gives a possibility to tailor a degree of hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity of the resulting electrospun nanofibrous mats where as a basic polymeric material is taken poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) solved in methanol. Presence of fumed silica substantially changes viscoelastic attributes in comparison with the neat PVB solution.\nThe aim of this contribution is to compare morphological structures of the resulting electrospun mats generated from the solutions with presence and absence of various types of fumed silica differing in surface morphology, size and the specific surface area. This comparison is based on the rheological characteristics with the emphasis to elasticity of the pre-processed solutions. The differences in elasticity among fumed silica based solutions are indeed remarkable. The obtained results show that elasticity does not play a crucial role in creation and morphological aspects of the corresponding nanofibrous mats including fibres diameter.
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Microplastics in Drinking Water
Čermáková, Lenka ; Novotná, Kateřina ; Peer, Petra ; Janda, V. ; Pivokonský, Martin
The research was focused on microplastics occurring in water sources and in drinking water. Recently, the topic of microplastics in water is very up to date. However, most of the studies are focused on quantification of microplastics in sea water, sediments or surface waters, which are not a source of raw water for drinking water treatment, and at the same time the most of studies deal with the analysis of particles in the size range of 0.3 - 5 mm. The subject of the present study was to quantify microplastics from 0.2 μm in raw and treated water from three unnamed water treatment plants in the Czech Republic and to determine their size distribution, shape and material composition. It has been found that the number of microplastics ranged from 1414-7006 L-1 particles in raw water and 305-921 L-1 particles in treated water. Microplastics smaller than 10 μm were the most plentiful in both raw and treated water samples. Fragments clearly prevailed at two of the water treatment plants and fibres together with fragments predominated at one case.
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Thermal induced morphological changes of poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibrous webs
Polášková, M. ; Peer, Petra ; Ponížil, P. ; Čermák, R.
The crystallinity of fibres prepared by electrospinning shows lower level in comparison with samples processed by common technologies such as moulding or film casting. Thus, the attempts to improve the structure of electrospun fibres in order to increase physical and mechanical properties of nonwoven webs are obvious. Post-process thermal treatment is one of the possibilities of the crystallinity enhancement that can be easily included to the finishing operation of final products. For the experiment we used poly(ethylene oxide) representing electrospun-friendly material and two solvents - methanol and water, both ensuring good electrospinnability. It is demonstrated that a choice of polymer solvents plays a significant role in fibre diameter and their capabilities to resist applied heat. However, in all cases the enhancement of crystallinity is detected at the short time of thermal exposure.
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The role of solvents in the preparation of hydrophobic nanofibrous membrane containing fumed silica
Peer, Petra ; Polášková, M. ; Musilová, I. ; Filip, Petr
It is well-known that a type of used fumed silica nanoparticles plays a dominant role in wettability of the corresponding nanofibrous mats. As a result, the desired contact angle can be approximately achieved by a choice of adequate fumed silica nanoparticles. However, less attention has been hitherto paid to an active role of solvents in connection with the tailoring this contact angle. For analysis we used poly(vinyl butyral) representing electrospun-friendly material, various types of fumed silica nanoparticles and two solvents - methanol and ethanol. It is demonstrated that a choice of polymer solvents plays a significant role in contact angle changes. Hence, in combination of the type of fumed silica nanoparticles and the type of solvent it is possible to achieve a finer partition of the required contact angles.
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The role of sonication of polyethyleneoxide solutions containing magnetic nanoparticles on morphology of nanofibrous mats
Peer, Petra ; Stěnička, M. ; Filip, Petr ; Pizúrová, Naděžda ; Babayan, V.
Properties of the resulting polymer nanofibers are often tailored by sonication technique applied prior or past an electrospinning process. The aim of this contribution is to evaluate morphology of nanofibrous mats formed by poly(ethylene oxide) with distributed magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) (about 20 nm in diameter) in dependence on time of sonication of the used polymer solutions. The solutions were exposed to sonication (intensity 200W, frequency 24 kHz) for 10, 30, and 60 minutes. It was shown that rheological characteristics (viscosity, storage and loss moduli) strongly depend on time of sonication (particularly phase angle) in contrast to electric conductivity and surface tension. For analysis of homogeneous distribution of MNP in polymer solution, the rheological measurements were carried out also in presence of external magnetic field. Magnetorheological efficiency (a relation of corresponding viscosities) was determined for 80, 170, and 255 mT. Consequently, changed rheological characteristics participate significantly in the process of electrospinning and resulting quality of the obtained nanofibrous mats. Qualitative changes were described by\nmeans of scanning electron microscopy (variance of mean diameter of nanofibers), transmission electron microscopy (distribution of MNP within nanofibrous mats). Static magnetic properties were determined by a vibration sample magnetometer. It was shown that even distribution of MNP in the mats can be achieved by mere sonication process without application of external magnetic field during an electrospinning process. However, time of sonication generates a degree of embedding of MNP into individual nanofibers.
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