Title :
Characterization of micromanipulator controlled dry spinning of micro- and nanoscale polymer fibers
Author :
Berry, Scott M. ; Harfenist, Steven A. ; Cohn, Robert W. ; Keynton, Robert S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Louisville Univ., KY, USA
Abstract :
No current microfabrication technique exists for producing room-temperature, high-precision, point-to-point polymer nanofibers in three dimensions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to characterize a novel method for fabricating such structures. Poly-methylmethacrylate (PMMA) microand nano-fibers have been fabricated using a technique which involves drawing a solvated polymer bridge between two liquid pools with a stylus positioned by an ultra-high-precision micromill. The solvent in the solution bridge rapidly evaporates, leaving a suspended PMMA fiber between the two pools. It was observed that fibers ranging in diameter from 450 nm to 50 μm were drawn and that fiber diameter increased significantly with increasing solution concentration and increasing polymer molecular weight.
Keywords :
drawing (mechanical); micromanipulators; milling machines; nanostructured materials; nanotechnology; polymer fibres; polymer solutions; 293 to 298 K; 450 nm to 50 micron; PMMA; fiber diameter; liquid pools; micro-scale polymer fibers; micromanipulator controlled dry spinning; nano-fibers fabrication; nanoscale polymer fibers; point-to-point polymer nanofibers; poly-methylmethacrylate; polymer molecular weight; solution concentration; solvated polymer bridge drawing; ultra-high-precision micromill; Bridge circuits; Micromanipulators; Micromechanical devices; Nanoscale devices; Optical fiber devices; Optical polymers; Orifices; Solvents; Spinning; Viscosity; Dry Spinning; MEMS; Microfabrication; Polymer Fibers;
Conference_Titel :
Microtechnology in Medicine and Biology, 2005. 3rd IEEE/EMBS Special Topic Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8711-2
DOI :
10.1109/MMB.2005.1548458
