Faculty Publications
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Item Parametric study of manufacturing ultrafine polybenzimidazole fibers by electrospinning(Springer, 2012) Anandhan, S.; Ponprapakaran, K.; Senthil, T.; George, G.Polybenzimidazole (PBI), a high performance polymer, was synthesized from 3,3?-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and isophthalic acid (IPA) through polycondensation. The chemical structure of PBI was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal characterization of PBI was done by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. PBI nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning of N, N-dimethyl acetamide solutions of PBI of different solution concentrations, at different voltages. The effects of solution and process parameters (namely, solution concentration and DC voltage) on morphology and average diameter of electrospun PBI fibers were investigated. The electrospun ultrafine fibers' diameter and morphology were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy. Nanofibers were obtained only from PBI solutions of concentrations 12 and 14 % (w/v). At concentrations of 8, 10, and 16 %, fibers could not be obtained. The process parameters were optimized by using the statistical tool, factorial or two-way ANOVA (analysis of variance), DOE (design of experiments) and the results indicate that the applied voltage and the interaction of voltage and solution concentration are influential in determining the diameter and morphology of the electrospun ultrathin PBI fibers. Electrospun PBI fibers, as small as 56 nm, could be successfully produced by using the right combination of solution concentration and spinning voltage. © 2012 Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology.Item Structure-property relationship of sol-gel electrospun ZnO nanofibers developed for ammonia gas sensing(Academic Press Inc. apjcs@harcourt.com, 2014) Senthil, T.; Anandhan, S.Zinc oxide (ZnO) based nanomaterials have been used in various gas sensors due to the wide band gap (3.37. eV), large exciton binding energy and high mobility of charge carriers of ZnO. In this work, nanocrystalline ZnO nanofiber mats were synthesized through combined sol-gel electrospinning techniques followed by calcination, in which poly(styrene- co-acrylonitrile) and zinc acetate were used as the binder and precursor, respectively. Average diameter of the ZnO nanofibers decreased from 400 to 60. nm, while their grain size and crystallinity were enhanced by increasing the calcination temperature. Morphology and structure of the ZnO nanofiber mats were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. ZnO nanofiber mats were found to be superhydrophilic (contact angle was close to 0°) by contact angle measurements. The sensitivity of these ZnO nanofibers in detecting gaseous ammonia was tested using an indigenous set up. Due to their high surface area and superhydrophility, these ZnO nanofiber mats were highly sensitive in sensing gaseous ammonia and the sensitivity of these mats increased as a function of their calcination temperatures. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.Item Electrospinning of non-woven poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) nanofibrous webs for corrosive chemical filtration: Process evaluation and optimization by Taguchi and multiple regression analyses(Elsevier, 2015) Senthil, T.; Anandhan, S.Nano-fibrous ultra-filtration membranes of poly(styrene- co-acrylonitrile) were produced from n-butanone solution by electrospinning. Effects of governing parameters on morphology and variation in diameter of the electrospun fibers were experimentally investigated by orthogonal experimental design. The process parameters were selected by Taguchi's method. Multiple regression analysis was used to obtain a quantitative relationship between selected electrospinning parameters and average fiber diameter and ANOVA was used to identify the statistically significant parameters and set the optimal level for each parameter. Confirmation experiment revealed a good agreement between the predicted values of the response obtained from optimum level parameters and the observed experimental values. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.Item Fabrication of styrene-acrylonitrile random copolymer nanofiber membranes from N,N-dimethyl formamide by electrospinning(SAGE Publications Ltd info@sagepub.co.uk, 2015) Senthil, T.; Anandhan, S.Ultrafine styrene-acrylonitrile random copolymer (SAN) nanofiber-based membranes were produced from N,N-dimethyl formamide solution by electrospinning. The purpose of this study was to find the optimum values of the electrospinning parameters and the influence of major significant parameters on the electrospun fiber morphology and the average fiber diameter (Davg) and its standard deviation using design of experiment. A backward elimination model for multiple regression analysis was employed to obtain quantitative interactions among selected electrospinning parameters and the final fiber diameter. The dependence of the Davg and morphology on the critical entanglement concentration was also studied. Morphology of the electrospun nanofiber mats were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Davg of electrospun SAN fibers increased considerably with increasing solution concentration. Fibers with diameters ranging from 40 to 650 nm were obtained. Analysis of variance was utilized to identify the statistically significant parameters (p < 0.05) and error variance. © The Author(s) 2013.Item Sol–gel electrospun mesoporous ZnMn2O4 nanofibers with superior specific surface area(Springer New York LLC barbara.b.bertram@gsk.com, 2017) Shamitha, C.; Senthil, T.; Wu, L.; Kumar, B.; Anandhan, S.ZnMn2O4 has application potential in lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, sensors, and thermistors. In this study, mesoporous spinel ZnMn2O4 nanofibers were synthesized by sol–gel assisted electrospinning combined with calcination, using poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) as sacrificial polymeric binder. Structural, morphological and optical properties of these ceramic nanofibers were characterized. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed the presence of hexagonal ZnMnO3 and MnO phases in the ZnMn2O4 nanofibers produced. Based on these observations we propose a plausible mechanism of formation of ZnMn2O4 nanofibers. The nanofibers calcined at 773 K exhibit a specific surface area of 79.5 m2 g?1, which is higher than that of the zinc manganite nanofibers synthesized hitherto by sol–gel electrospinning. Moreover, this material exhibits four bandgaps, which is believed to be the first observation in ZnMn2O4 nanofibers. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.Item Organoclay enabled nanofiber formation from a polyolefin elastomer(John Wiley and Sons Inc. P.O.Box 18667 Newark NJ 07191-8667, 2018) Kumar, B.; Prakrthi, A.N.; Senthil, T.; Bhat, K.; Anandhan, S.The solution electrospinning of polyolefins has not been deeply studied mainly due to the difficulty in dissolving these polymers in appropriate solvents. In this study, composite nanofibers of organically modified montmorillonite/ethylene-octene random copolymer were produced for the first time with a mixture of cyclohexane and xylene as a solvent by solution electrospinning. Montmorillonite was used as an additive to increase the electrical charge density of the polymer solution. The influence of solution and process parameters on the electrospun ethylene-octene copolymer fibers' morphology and diameter was investigated using the design of experiment. Multiple regression analysis was used for the optimization of the electrospinning parameters. Ultrafine fibers, with diameters in the range of 150–350 nm were obtained; these nanofibers exhibited an excellent hydrophobicity over a period of 10 min as revealed by contact angle measurements. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.