Surface morphology and beta-phase formation of single polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite nanofibers

This study has developed a reliable model to design and engineer PVDF nanofiber in terms of both morphological and fraction of beta-phase content based on response surface methodology (RSM). The model was further used to assess the effect of each individual electrospinning processing parameter as well as their interdependences on the properties of electrospun PVDF nanofibers. Our experimental results highly agreed with the modeling. The results indicated that both morphological and crystalline properties of PVDF are highly affected by electrospinning process parameters, particularly the fraction of betaphase content. A beadless PVDF nanofiber with the maximum fraction of the beta phase was achieved through a numerical optimization process.