Solvent-induced instabilities in electrospun polystyrene nanofibers and 1-D micro droplet array fabrication.
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| Title: | Solvent-induced instabilities in electrospun polystyrene nanofibers and 1-D micro droplet array fabrication. |
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| Authors: | Dubey, Nidhi1 (AUTHOR), Paulraj, Sushmitha2 (AUTHOR), Mahto, Sanjeev Kumar2 (AUTHOR), Verma, Ankur1 (AUTHOR) ankurv.che@iitbhu.ac.in |
| Source: | Colloid & Polymer Science. Jul2026, Vol. 304 Issue 7, p1753-1765. 13p. |
| Subjects: | Microdroplets, Nanofibers, Electrospinning, Flow instability, Nanostructures, Microscopy, Surface stability |
| Abstract: | We demonstrate here that the dewetting in a solvent-non-solvent mixture can be employed to achieve a facile, rapid and lithography-free fabrication of well-aligned nano to microscale 1-D polymer droplet arrays from electro-spun polystyrene (PS) nanofibers. These spherical microdroplet arrays can function as high-aspect-ratio nanolenses for super-resolved microscopy. We observed a Rayleigh-instability-driven morphological transition when thermally annealed electrospun PS fibers on a silanized glass substrate were dewetted with a solvent-water media. Instability in PS nanofibers is affected by the interactions occurring between the polymer and the substrate beneath it. We demonstrated that the dewetting kinetics and morphology of dewetted structures depends on whether dewetting is induced by thermal annealing, exposure to solvent vapor, or immersion in a liquid media of solvent and non-solvent. Intensified dewetting in liquid media not only results in significantly faster dewetting dynamics but also results in dewetting of thicker nanofibers, which remain stable under thermal annealing or solvent-vapor exposure. Moreover, the droplets produced by this method have significantly higher aspect ratio. The number density of these microdroplets can be further increased beyond any limit by sequential dewetting in a methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)-water mixture, enabling more closely packed arrays which cannot be achieved by the dewetting of thin films. This work provides a scalable and controllable approach for fabricating densely packed, aligned polymer structures with tunable diameters spanning nano to micro length scales, presenting new possibilities for accessible super-resolution imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Colloid & Polymer Science is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 194808985 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Solvent-induced instabilities in electrospun polystyrene nanofibers and 1-D micro droplet array fabrication. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dubey%2C+Nidhi%22">Dubey, Nidhi</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Paulraj%2C+Sushmitha%22">Paulraj, Sushmitha</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mahto%2C+Sanjeev+Kumar%22">Mahto, Sanjeev Kumar</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Verma%2C+Ankur%22">Verma, Ankur</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> ankurv.che@iitbhu.ac.in</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Colloid+%26+Polymer+Science%22">Colloid & Polymer Science</searchLink>. Jul2026, Vol. 304 Issue 7, p1753-1765. 13p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Microdroplets%22">Microdroplets</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nanofibers%22">Nanofibers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electrospinning%22">Electrospinning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Flow+instability%22">Flow instability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Nanostructures%22">Nanostructures</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Microscopy%22">Microscopy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Surface+stability%22">Surface stability</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: We demonstrate here that the dewetting in a solvent-non-solvent mixture can be employed to achieve a facile, rapid and lithography-free fabrication of well-aligned nano to microscale 1-D polymer droplet arrays from electro-spun polystyrene (PS) nanofibers. These spherical microdroplet arrays can function as high-aspect-ratio nanolenses for super-resolved microscopy. We observed a Rayleigh-instability-driven morphological transition when thermally annealed electrospun PS fibers on a silanized glass substrate were dewetted with a solvent-water media. Instability in PS nanofibers is affected by the interactions occurring between the polymer and the substrate beneath it. We demonstrated that the dewetting kinetics and morphology of dewetted structures depends on whether dewetting is induced by thermal annealing, exposure to solvent vapor, or immersion in a liquid media of solvent and non-solvent. Intensified dewetting in liquid media not only results in significantly faster dewetting dynamics but also results in dewetting of thicker nanofibers, which remain stable under thermal annealing or solvent-vapor exposure. Moreover, the droplets produced by this method have significantly higher aspect ratio. The number density of these microdroplets can be further increased beyond any limit by sequential dewetting in a methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)-water mixture, enabling more closely packed arrays which cannot be achieved by the dewetting of thin films. This work provides a scalable and controllable approach for fabricating densely packed, aligned polymer structures with tunable diameters spanning nano to micro length scales, presenting new possibilities for accessible super-resolution imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Colloid & Polymer Science is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s00396-026-05625-6 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 13 StartPage: 1753 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Microdroplets Type: general – SubjectFull: Nanofibers Type: general – SubjectFull: Electrospinning Type: general – SubjectFull: Flow instability Type: general – SubjectFull: Nanostructures Type: general – SubjectFull: Microscopy Type: general – SubjectFull: Surface stability Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Solvent-induced instabilities in electrospun polystyrene nanofibers and 1-D micro droplet array fabrication. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Dubey, Nidhi – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Paulraj, Sushmitha – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Mahto, Sanjeev Kumar – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Verma, Ankur IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 07 Text: Jul2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 0303402X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 304 – Type: issue Value: 7 Titles: – TitleFull: Colloid & Polymer Science Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
