Contact : Neeta
Email : Marketing@atira.in
Mobile : +919374971037
ATIRA - CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR NANOSPINNING
ELECTROSPINNING FOR NANOFIBRE GENERATION
Of the various methods of producing nanofibers, electrospinning is the most commonly used method to fabricate them. Elmarco make Nanospider TM NS 3A 1000U machine is one such technology installed at ATIRA incubation centre which uses electrospinning process for nano fibre formation. The machine can transform many types of polymers into nanofibers using high electrical voltage supply. Polymers can be natural such as cellulose, polysacchides, keratin etc. or synthetic such as polylactic acid (PLA), polyamide (PA6), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), PTFE etc.
Elmarco Nano electrospinning at ATIRA is an industrial scale electrospinning equipment based on needle free Nanospider electrospinning technology. The NanospiderTM NS3A 1000 U uses polymers / carbon to produce inorganic nanofibers that can be laid on substrates as uniform web.
This equipment has the potential of being used for wide range of applications like air & liquid filtration or as catalyst in mechanical & chemical industry, in air & water filters for homes, waste water cleaning & industrial pollution filters in environment industry, as nano lamination & coating to improve water repellency in functional apparel & performance textile, in noise absorption filter (engine, fuel, cabin, air, exhaust) & batteries of electric cars in automotive industry, in lithium ion batteries or fuel cells in energy industry, as wound care material for faster and effective healing or as barrier garment for higher personal protection against infection in medical textile etc. These are some of the areas where this equipment can be utilized for developing nano based products having higher efficiencies.
ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRO SPUN NANOFIBRES
The market demand for products from Electro spun Nanofiber webs is increasing because of advantage that they can be engineered with a desired porous structure with a range of polymers.
Manufacturers are able to optimize the performance of the material because of its unique properties such as:
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- high specific surface area
- low basis weight & small fibre diameter
- Porous structure with permeability and
- Potential to incorporate active chemistry.
These has resulted in their applications having slowly found to increase in wide range of industrial fields like textiles, environment, energy, health and medical, automotive, electronics, agriculture etc.
PRINCIPLE OF ELECTROSPINNING NANOFIBRE FORMATION
Most electrospinning machines use needles for generation of nano fibres, however the nano spinning technology at ATIRA uses liquid free surface electrospinning process for production of nanofibers.
Figure below gives the schematic representation of nanofiber generation in Elmarco Nanospinning.
Polymers are first made soluble in a specified concentration range within a defined viscosity range. This solution is then filled into the electrospinning chamber setup. Application of high electrostatic voltage of around 90KV is then given in the machine. The rotating spinning electrode dipped in polymer solution tub, creates nanofiber flow from the spinning solution towards the collecting electrode. These electrospun generated nanofibers get deposited like a layer / coating on the substrate that moves between the collecting electrode and the rotating electrode thereby forming a porous nanofiber coated web on the substrate. The thickness of the coated web can be varied and depends on the speed of the machine, the distance between the electrode, the amount of electrostatic voltage given and also the type of substrate selected. Electrospun nanofibers have fibres with diameter of 50-500nm.
APPLICATION AREAS OF ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBRES
Electrospun nanofibrous material have shown potential in wide range of application like protective clothing, tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, medical implant devices, water & air filtration, oil water separation, water treatment, food technology, super capacitor sensors and so on.
The application areas of electrospun nanofibers are many
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- Performance Textile (Textile Industry)
- Medical and Health Industry
- Environment sector
- Automotive and space industry
- Electrical and electronic industry
- Chemical industry
- Pharmaceutical industry
- Military and Defense Sector
- Sensor and Instrumentation industry
- Agricultural Sector
ATIRA AS CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBRES
During pandemic ATIRA & DRDO jointly developed technology of using Nanofibre based filter media in face mask that gave filteration efficiency of 99%. Besides, the silver nano coating of the web enabled to achieve bacterial filteration efficiency of 99.9%.
The mask produced using this technology was a 5 layered assembly of which 2 layers consisted of ATIRA developed silver coated nanoweb filter media that formed the heart of the mask. The other 3 layers are the front & the back covering layers and a middle layer. Our filter media were used in the mask that were supplied to PM Office, for doctors and front line workers of Ministry of Health and DRDO.
The technology was later transferred and now open to various mask manufacturers of India wherein ATIRA developed silver coated nanofiber based filter media is incorporated to get 99% filteration efficiencies of the masks.
The market of electrospun nanofiber products, is expected to grow significantly due to the many advantages of nanofibers and their application in a wide range of industrial fields including textiles, medical, environment, energy, electronics, automotive, biotechnology, pharmaceutics, and cosmetics. The market research for the period upto 2025 show a compounded growth rate of 25% to 35% in the above segments. Continuing research efforts are on in various sectors to expand the benefit of application of nanofibers and this will certainly allow improvements in available technological alternatives and eventually transfer forthcoming electrospinning processes and more products towards commercialization. The Elmarco electrospinning unit at Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA) can be used for such research studies and also mass production.