Strategies For Improving Electrospinability Of Polysulfone

The overall objective of this study is the fabrication of defect-free electrospun mats of polysulfone (PSU) for applications as a porous support for proton exchange membranes. Electrospinning of PSU from dimethylformamide (DMF) solution generated mats free of cast formation and over-wetting, but unspun droplets were frequently observed in the mats because the electrospun jet was unstable. A stable jet and a large reduction of beads in the electrospun mats were obtained with a mixture of 20 vol.% acetone in DMF. Subsequent optomization of the flow rate to 1.5 mL/h and the applied voltage to 14 kV generated electrospun mats free of any beads based on SEM analysis.