An airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device

Abstract

This utility model relates to an airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device, comprising: a fiber supply mechanism, which includes a liquid supply pump, a power supply, and a liquid supply nozzle. The liquid supply pump is used to supply a solution to be spun, the output port of which is connected to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle. The power supply is used to stretch the solution to be spun into fibers at the liquid supply nozzle. An air jetting mechanism includes a compression pump, a pressure reducing component, a heating component, and an air jetting blade. The output port of the compression pump is connected to the input port of the pressure reducing component, and the output port of the pressure reducing component is connected to the input port of the air jetting blade. The heating component is used to heat the airflow between the pressure reducing component and the air jetting blade. Through the above-described configuration, this utility model enables the prepared nanofiber membrane to retain its original excellent filtration performance, effectively intercepting various microparticles and preventing large particles from clogging the fibers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of electrospinning, and in particular to an airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device. Background Technology

[0002] Air-jet spinning utilizes high-speed, high-pressure airflow to jet and stretch a spinning solution or melt. Under the continuous and powerful action of the airflow, the spinning solution or melt is continuously stretched and refined, eventually forming fibers with a diameter on the order of micrometers.

[0003] However, because the fiber diameter ratio prepared by this method is larger than that of nanofibers, the pores between the fibers are larger. When the membrane is formed and used for filtration, it can only filter out coarse particles, such as dust and larger impurities in the air. However, it cannot filter out extremely small bacteria or viruses. Small bacteria or viruses can easily penetrate the membrane made of air-spun fibers, and coarse particles will enter the internal pores between the fibers, gradually accumulating and clogging the filtration path, which greatly reduces the filtration efficiency and limits the service life of the filter material. Utility Model Content

[0004] Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by this utility model is to overcome the problem that the fiber diameter ratio prepared by air-jet spinning in the prior art is larger than that of nano-sized fibers and the pores between fibers are large, thereby providing an air-jet assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, this utility model provides an airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device, characterized in that it comprises:

[0006] The yarn feeding mechanism includes: a liquid supply pump, a power supply, and a liquid supply nozzle. The liquid supply pump is used to connect the output port of the solution to be spun to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle, and the power supply is used to stretch the solution to be spun into fibers at the liquid supply nozzle.

[0007] The jet mechanism includes a compression pump, a pressure reducing assembly, a heating assembly, and a jet cutter head. The output port of the compression pump is connected to the input port of the pressure reducing assembly, and the output port of the pressure reducing assembly is connected to the input port of the jet cutter head. The heating assembly is used to heat the airflow between the pressure reducing assembly and the jet cutter head.

[0008] In one embodiment of the present invention, a receiving device is further included. The receiving device is disposed on the side away from the liquid supply nozzle and the jet cutter head, and the height of the top surface of the receiving device is less than the height of the bottom surface of the jet cutter head.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, the receiving device includes: a base, a support frame, and a roller. The base is disposed on one side of the wire feeding mechanism, the support frame is fixedly installed on the base, and the roller is rotatably connected to the base through the support frame.

[0010] In one embodiment of this utility model, the liquid supply nozzle is disposed on a connecting frame, and the connecting frame is provided with a plurality of liquid supply nozzles along its length.

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, the connecting frame includes a support portion and a mounting portion, the ends of the support portion and the mounting portion are connected and their planes are perpendicular to each other, and the mounting portion has a plurality of mounting holes for mounting liquid supply nozzles.

[0012] In one embodiment of this utility model, the arrangement direction of the plurality of liquid supply nozzles is parallel to the extension direction of the jet blade.

[0013] In one embodiment of this utility model, the jet cutter head is connected to the support portion.

[0014] In one embodiment of this utility model, the power source is a high-voltage power source, which is used to form an electrostatic field at the output port of the liquid supply nozzle.

[0015] In one embodiment of this utility model, the compression pump and the heating assembly are connected through an air supply pipe, and the jet cutter head is connected to the output port of the heating assembly.

[0016] In one embodiment of this utility model, the output port of the liquid supply pump is connected to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle through a liquid supply pipe.

[0017] The above-mentioned technical solution of this utility model has the following advantages compared with the prior art:

[0018] This invention discloses an airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device. Through the synergistic effect of electrostatic field stretching and airflow-assisted stretching, it effectively refines the fiber diameter and ensures its consistency. A charged solution is energized to form a Taylor cone and ejected as a jet, achieving initial stretching through the electric field. Simultaneously, the auxiliary airflow provided by the jetting mechanism, with its heating and stable pressure, further stretches the jet through shear force. This provides suitable auxiliary stretching force to the unformed fibers during electrospinning, ensuring that the prepared nanofiber membrane not only retains its original excellent filtration performance and effectively intercepts various microparticles but also prevents large particles from clogging the fibers. Attached Figure Description

[0019] To make the content of this utility model easier to understand, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the spinning device of this utility model;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the relative positions of the receiving device and the wire feeding device of this utility model;

[0022] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the receiving device of this utility model.

[0023] Explanation of reference numerals in the accompanying drawings: 1. Compression pump; 2. Pressure reducing assembly; 3. Liquid supply pump; 4. Power supply; 5. Receiving device; 51. Base; 52. Support frame; 53. Roller; 6. Air jet head; 7. Connecting frame; 8. Liquid supply nozzle; 9. Liquid supply pipeline; 10. Air supply pipeline; 11. Heating assembly. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, so that those skilled in the art can better understand and implement the present invention. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0025] Example

[0026] Reference Figures 1-3 As shown, the present invention provides an airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device, comprising:

[0027] The yarn feeding mechanism includes: a liquid supply pump 3, a power supply 4, and a liquid supply nozzle 8. The liquid supply pump 3 is used to connect the output port of the solution to be spun to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle 8. The power supply 4 is used to stretch the solution to be spun into fibers at the liquid supply nozzle 8.

[0028] The jet mechanism includes: a compression pump 1, a pressure reducing component 2, a heating component 11, and a jet cutter head 6. The output port of the compression pump 1 is connected to the input port of the pressure reducing component 2, and the output port of the pressure reducing component 2 is connected to the input port of the jet cutter head 6. The heating component 11 is used to heat the airflow between the pressure reducing component 2 and the jet cutter head.

[0029] This invention discloses an airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device. The device includes a fiber supply mechanism that provides the solution to be spun and forms an initial fiber jet. The output port of the supply pump 3 is connected to the input port of the supply nozzle 8. The tip of the supply nozzle 8 has a narrowed opening to facilitate solution accumulation at the tip, forming a Taylor cone. A power supply 4 generates an electrostatic field at the supply nozzle 8. An air jet mechanism provides auxiliary airflow for heating, changing the temperature of the ejected gas to adapt to different environments. A compression pump 1 is connected to the input port of a pressure reducing assembly 2, which reduces the high-pressure gas to a preset working pressure to prevent sudden pressure changes that could disrupt the stability of the fiber jet. Its output port is connected to a heating assembly 11 via a gas supply pipe 10. The heating assembly 11 heats the depressurized airflow, which then enters an air jet cutter head 6. The air jet cutter head 6 has a slit-shaped outlet to facilitate the formation of a uniform, ribbon-like airflow field, with the outlet facing the tip region of the supply nozzle 8.

[0030] During the spinning process, the supply pump 3 continuously delivers the solution to be spun to the supply nozzle 8. The solution becomes charged after contacting the conductive components at the nozzle tip. The electrostatic field generated by the power source 4 causes the charged solution to aggregate due to the repulsion of like charges, forming a Taylor cone—a conical protrusion of solution—at the nozzle tip. When the electric field force exceeds the surface tension of the solution, a continuous jet is ejected from the tip of the Taylor cone. Simultaneously, the high-pressure gas provided by the compression pump 1 is reduced to the working pressure by the pressure reducing component 2, then heated to the preset temperature by the heating component 11, and ejected as a uniform heated airflow through the jet nozzle 6. The airflow acts on the jet, further stretching it through shear force, refining it into nanofibers; it also accelerates the evaporation of the solvent in the jet, preventing the fibers from sticking together during flight due to incomplete solvent evaporation. Under the combined action of the airflow thrust and the initial ejection velocity, the nanofibers are deposited on the receiving device 5 on one side, forming a uniform nanofiber film.

[0031] The liquid supply pump 3 is preferably a peristaltic pump or a syringe pump, which has precise flow regulation capability and is suitable for conveying high-viscosity solutions to be spun.

[0032] It also includes a receiving device 5, which is located on a side away from the liquid supply nozzle 8 and the air jet head 6. The height of the top surface of the receiving device 5 is less than the height of the bottom surface of the air jet head. The liquid supply nozzle faces downward, causing the initial velocity of the fiber to be downward. The airflow ejected from the air jet head 6 flows along the nozzle direction, generating a lateral thrust on the fiber. Because the top surface of the receiving device 5 is lower than the bottom surface of the nozzle, the resultant force on the fiber points towards the top surface of the receiving device 5, rather than horizontally or upward. This ensures that the fiber is accurately deposited on the receiving device 5, rather than deviating from the surrounding environment.

[0033] The receiving device 5 includes a base 51, a support frame 52, and a roller 53. The base 51 is disposed on one side of the yarn feeding mechanism, the support frame 52 is fixedly installed on the base 51, and the roller 53 is rotatably connected to the base 51 via the support frame 52. The base 51 is a rigid flat plate structure with sufficient weight and strength to prevent excessive movement of the device due to vibration during operation. The support frame 52 consists of two symmetrical brackets fixedly installed at both ends of the base 51. In some embodiments, the height of the brackets is adjustable, and the brackets are used to support both ends of the roller 53. The roller 53 has a cylindrical structure, and its length matches the arrangement length of the liquid supply nozzles 8, facilitating the peeling of the fiber membrane. The roller 53 is connected to the support frame 52 via bearings with a low coefficient of friction to ensure that the roller 53 can rotate flexibly. In some embodiments, one end of the roller 53 is connected to a drive motor via a coupling, and the motor speed is adjusted by a frequency converter. During spinning, the drive motor drives the roller 53 to rotate at a uniform speed. After the fibers are ejected from the liquid supply nozzle 8, they are deposited onto the surface of the roller 53 under the action of initial velocity and airflow thrust. Due to the rotation of the roller 53, the fibers are continuously deposited on its surface, forming a continuous nanofiber membrane. The rotational speed of the roller 53 directly affects the membrane thickness: the faster the rotation, the less fiber is deposited on the surface of the roller 53 per unit time, resulting in a thinner membrane; conversely, the slower the rotation, the thicker the membrane. By adjusting the rotational speed, a fiber membrane of a preset thickness can be obtained.

[0034] This application also includes the following features: 1. An external airflow auxiliary device, namely a compression pump 1, facilitates device replacement and cleaning, effectively extends the device's service life, and reduces long-term operating costs. 2. The air outlet of the jet cutter head 6 is flattened and retractable, which can change the jet distance and expand the jet range, allowing the airflow to be ejected in a more uniform and wider pattern, providing more comprehensive and stable airflow support for the fiber, and improving the overall quality and consistency of fiber preparation. 3. The temperature of the ejected gas can be changed by an air heating device, namely a heating component 11, to adapt to different environments. 4. The liquid supply nozzle 8 is modularly modified to make the structure flexible and adaptable to various scenarios. A matrix arrangement is then used to increase spinning units, effectively improving spinning efficiency and thus significantly increasing product yield.

[0035] The liquid supply nozzles 8 are mounted on the connecting frame 7, which has multiple nozzles 8 arranged along its length. These nozzles operate simultaneously, each ejecting a jet that, with the assistance of power supply 4 and airflow, is stretched into nanofibers. Because the nozzles are arranged along the length of the connecting frame 7, the fiber deposition area on the roller 53 covers the entire width of the roller 53, forming a wide-width fiber membrane. The simultaneous operation of multiple nozzles significantly improves production efficiency. Furthermore, the consistent spinning conditions for each nozzle ensure the uniformity of the fiber membrane.

[0036] The connecting frame 7 includes a support portion and a mounting portion. The ends of the support portion and the mounting portion are connected and their planes are perpendicular. The mounting portion has multiple mounting holes for mounting the liquid supply nozzles 8. The support portion bears the weight of the mounting portion and the liquid supply nozzles 8, ensuring the overall stability of the connecting frame 7. The horizontal setting of the mounting portion ensures that the multiple liquid supply nozzles 8 are at the same height.

[0037] The arrangement direction of the plurality of liquid supply nozzles 8 is parallel to the extension direction of the jet nozzles 6. When the jet nozzles 6 eject heated gas flow, because their extension direction is parallel to the arrangement direction of the liquid supply nozzles 8, the gas flow forms a uniform band-shaped gas flow field, covering the tip region of all the liquid supply nozzles 8. The jet ejected from each liquid supply nozzle 8 is subjected to uniform gas flow shear force, which refines the jet into nanofibers with uniform diameter. If the two directions are not parallel, for example, if the jet nozzles 6 extend in a vertical direction, the gas flow field is point-like or locally band-like, which cannot cover all nozzles, resulting in large differences in fiber diameter and a decrease in membrane uniformity.

[0038] The jet-jet cutter head 6 is connected to the support unit. The position of the jet-jet cutter head 6 directly affects the airflow assistance effect. If its relative position to the liquid supply nozzle 8 changes, the airflow will not be able to cover the nozzle tip, reducing fiber quality. The support unit, as part of the connecting frame 7, is used to fix the liquid supply nozzle 8. Connecting the jet-jet cutter head 6 to the support unit ensures that their relative positions remain consistent, avoiding positional deviation. This also simplifies the device structure and improves the device's integration and reliability.

[0039] The power supply 4 is a high-voltage power supply, which is used to form an electrostatic field at the output port of the liquid supply nozzle 8. The high-voltage power supply 4 provides high voltage to form a sufficiently strong electrostatic field between the liquid supply nozzle 8 and the receiving device 5, causing the solution to become charged and stretched into a jet. The compression pump 1 and the heating assembly 11 are connected through the air supply pipe 10, and the jet nozzle 6 is connected to the output port of the heating assembly 11. The air supply pipe 10 connects all components into an organic whole, ensuring stable pressure of the auxiliary airflow. The pressure reducing assembly 2 can regulate the pressure, and the pressure regulation further weakens the impact of air source fluctuations on subsequent stages, keeping the airflow pressure entering the heating assembly 11 and the jet nozzle 6 consistent, providing a stable airflow environment for the uniform stretching of the jet.

[0040] The output port of the liquid supply pump 3 is connected to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle 8 via the liquid supply pipe 9. The liquid supply pipe 9 serves as a transmission channel for the solution to be spun, and its material is polytetrafluoroethylene or rubber to ensure chemical compatibility with the solution and prevent corrosion or swelling. The connection method is a snap-fit ​​or threaded connection to ensure the airtightness of the solution transmission.

[0041] Obviously, the above embodiments are merely illustrative examples for clear explanation and are not intended to limit the implementation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other variations or modifications can be made based on the above description. It is neither necessary nor possible to exhaustively list all possible implementations here. However, obvious variations or modifications derived therefrom are still within the protection scope of this invention.

Claims

1. An airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device, characterized in that, include: The yarn feeding mechanism includes: a liquid supply pump, a power supply, and a liquid supply nozzle. The liquid supply pump is used to connect the output port of the solution to be spun to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle, and the power supply is used to stretch the solution to be spun into fibers at the liquid supply nozzle. The jet mechanism includes a compression pump, a pressure reducing assembly, a heating assembly, and a jet cutter head. The output port of the compression pump is connected to the input port of the pressure reducing assembly, and the output port of the pressure reducing assembly is connected to the input port of the jet cutter head. The heating assembly is used to heat the airflow between the pressure reducing assembly and the jet cutter head.

2. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a receiving device, which is located on the side away from the liquid supply nozzle and the jet cutter head, and the height of the top surface of the receiving device is less than the height of the bottom surface of the jet cutter head.

3. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The receiving device includes: a base, a support frame, and a roller. The base is disposed on one side of the wire feeding mechanism, the support frame is fixedly installed on the base, and the roller is rotatably connected to the base through the support frame.

4. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The liquid supply nozzle is mounted on the connecting frame, and the connecting frame has multiple liquid supply nozzles along its length.

5. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The connecting frame includes a support part and a mounting part. The ends of the support part and the mounting part are connected and their planes are perpendicular. The mounting part has multiple mounting holes for mounting liquid supply nozzles.

6. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The arrangement direction of the plurality of liquid supply nozzles is parallel to the extension direction of the jet cutter head.

7. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The jet-powered cutter head is connected to the support portion.

8. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power source is a high-voltage power source, which is used to create an electrostatic field at the output port of the liquid supply nozzle.

9. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The compression pump and the heating assembly are connected via an air supply pipe, and the jet cutter head is connected to the output port of the heating assembly.

10. The airflow-assisted electrospinning nanofiber membrane device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The output port of the liquid supply pump is connected to the input port of the liquid supply nozzle through a liquid supply pipe.

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