مسعود مفرحی

In recent years, centrifugal spinning method has been introduced in nanofiber production in which it has advantages such as high rate of production, low operation costs, simple equipment, three dimentional production and high safety. Due to significant importance of centrifugal spinning method, prescise investigation of parameters can help to improve the quality of nanofibers. Thus, in this investigation, parameters affecting nanofiber production of polyacrylonitrile and optimization of the process are investigated. Firstly, a nanofiber spinning machine was prepared for producing nanofibers, then parameters such as concentration of solution, rotational speed, amount of initial feed, length of the needles has been considered as control parameters and investigated in three different levels. Taguchi method and analysis of variance were used in process optimization and analyzing parameters due to number and diversity of effecting parameters on process and product for reducing time and cost. Results showed that concentration of solution, was a significant variable to control the nanofiber diameter. The second and third most prevalent parameters in minimizing nanofiber diameters were the initial feed and the rotational speed. In addition, the length of needles had trivial effect on the diameter of the nanofibers. The optimum condition for nanofiber production was determined to be a 12% PAN concentration, at a rotational speed of 4500 rpm, with 1.5 ml initial feed and 0.8 cm long needle. To confirm the results and demonstrating functionality of Taguchi method, nanofibers diameter in optimum condition was predicted by Taguchi and then compared with experimntal result. Considering the results, Taguchi method had a proper performance in investigating the optimum conditions. Furthermore, in this research the least rotational speed and solution concentration needed for producing uniform nanofibers was determined.