Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanofiber membranes with a kind of novel circular pore structure were fabricated in our study. Firstly, PTFE/PVA spinning solution was electrospun into precursor nanofiber membrane, during which, poly(tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) aqueous dispersion was introduced by electrostatic spraying aiming to optimize the original fibrous network pore structure of electrospinning. After which, the prepared precursor nanofiber membranes were sintered, and PTFE nanofiber membranes were finally obtained. Effects of FEP contents on PTFE nanofiber membranes’ structure and performance were investigated, respectively. From the morphology observation, it was found that the PTFE nanofiber membrane’s pore structure gradually transformed from fibrous network to circular pore due to the melting of FEP resins. Owing to the excellent under-oil hydrophobicity and the uniform circular pore structure, the obtained PTFE nanofiber membranes were utilized in membrane emulsification (ME) process to prepared water in oil (W/O) emulsion. Compared with the conventional mechanical stirring method, the W/O emulsion prepared by ME process showed not only more uniform water droplet size (about 270 nm), but also more stable and higher production efficiency.

中文翻译：

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静电纺PTFE纳米纤维膜的孔结构优化及其在膜乳化中的应用


我们的研究制备了具有一种新型圆形孔结构的聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）纳米纤维膜。首先将PTFE/PVA纺丝溶液静电纺丝成纳米纤维膜前驱体，同时通过静电喷涂引入聚四氟乙烯-六氟丙烯(FEP)水分散体，以优化静电纺丝原有的纤维网络孔结构。然后将制备的前驱体纳米纤维膜进行烧结，最终得到PTFE纳米纤维膜。分别研究了FEP含量对PTFE纳米纤维膜结构和性能的影响。从形貌观察发现，由于FEP树脂的熔化，PTFE纳米纤维膜的孔结构逐渐从纤维网状转变为圆形孔。由于具有优异的油下疏水性和均匀的圆形孔结构，所获得的PTFE纳米纤维膜用于膜乳化（ME）过程中制备油包水（W/O）乳液。与传统的机械搅拌方法相比，ME工艺制备的W/O乳液不仅水滴尺寸更均匀（约270 nm），而且更稳定，生产效率更高。