Pre-electrospinning polymer solution treatment by atmospheric-pressure argon plasma jet

Electrospinning has been found to be a straightforward and flexible technique to produce novel fibers. This technique has obtained much attention in the last decade due to its advantages, including versatility in spinning a wide variety of polymeric fibers, its high stability, its reproducibility and its consistency in producing fibers with a diameter in the submicron range1. The morphology of the resultant nanofibers is directly affected by the polymer solution properties such as polymer concentration, surface tension, viscosity, electrical conductivity and solvent(s) volatility. Therefore, preparation of an appropriate polymer solution is of great importance in the electrospinning process.