Measuring the porosity of PA6 nanofibers prepared via hybrid electrospinning after the dissolution of PVA component and effect of some parameters on it

The porosity of electrospun nanofibers web is a significant parameter affecting various areas of nanofibers applications. Thus, at first, the effect of most effective parameters, the concentration of polymer solution and flow rate, on the diameter of polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers, as a dissolving component, were investigated. Afterward, the hybrid web of polyamide 6/polyvinyl alcohol (PA/P) was prepared via a two-sided dual-nozzles electrospinning method. The morphology, diameter, pore size of nanofibers web and the effect of dissolving constituent were studied based on images of the scanning electron microscope. To measuring the porosity of nanofibrous webs, three practical and straightforward methods that have been proposed in the literature were utilized. It was observed that when one component was dissolved, the diameter of the resultant web was decreased, and the porosity has been reduced to about 70% based on the best selected method of porosity. Additionally, the average pore size of electrospun PA6 webs has been decreased about 30-58% relative to the original hybrid webs.