Process optimization and modelling the BET surface area of electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibres using response surface methodology

Electrospun nanofibres can be used in nanosensors, nanofilters, catalysts, tissue scaffolds, batteries, solar cells, protective clothing and so on. The major improvement in various applications is brought about by the enhanced surface area of the electrospun nanofibres. We employed a statistical approach to optimize electrospinning process parameters to produce cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibre mat with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area as the response variable. The selected variables (applied voltage, distance between needle and collector, and flow rate of solution) were optimized by response surface methodology (Central Composite Design–CCD) to capture the linear and quadratic influence to maximize specific surface area (SSA) of electrospun fibre mat measured by BET analyzer. The predicted model was significant with R 2 value of 0.91 and adjusted R 2 value of 0.83. This model predicted the SSA of 2.34 m 2 g −1 for the optimized parameters 24.8 kV voltage, 12 cm distance between needle and collector and 0.04 ml min −1 flow rate. The difference between the predicted value and the experimental result at the same parameters setting was less than 5%. The obtained results confirmed that the selected CCD model appropriately presented the performance of selected parameters in the prediction of SSA of CA nanofibre mat.