New generation of super absorber nano-fibroses hybrid fabric by electro-spinning

PAM (polyacrylamide) has been used in granular like shapes as a water super absorber and soil erosion resistant agent in irrigation systems as well as in conservation systems. The idea of making fibers out of PAM seems to be very interesting since the surface area per unit mass will increase tremendously from granular to fibroses like shape structures. In this paper electro-spinning technique has been used to investigate the ability to produce ultra-fine PAM fibers. Effect of electro-spinning parameters such as Berry's number, spinning height, and spinning angle on PAM fiber diameter have been studied till successfully 290 nm average fiber diameter has been collected. To enhance the amount of collected electro-spun PAM nano-fiber and to study its absorption characteristics PAN (polyacrylonitrile) nano-fibroses membrane has been suggested as a good candidate to carry the electro-spun PAM nano-fibroses structure since PAN has been proved its ability to coagulate in water keeping all its morphological behavior. PAM/PAN hybrid nano-fibroses fabric has been produced at the optimum electro-spinning conditions. The new super absorber PAM/PAN nano-fibroses hybrid fabric has been tested and proved its ability to enhance water absorption 43-3.6 times more than commercial PAM granular like shape based on experimental calculations on the macroscopically and microscopically levels, respectively. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.