Study on the effect of poly (ethylene oxide) on the electrospinning of soy protein isolate

Effect of electrospinning of soy protein isolate (SPI) in the presence of poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) was investigated in the study.The effects of SPI/PEO mass ratios and processing parameters on the morphology of electrospun fibers were discussed.The results showed that adding of PEO could increase the viscosity while decrease the conductivity of solution, and as a result improved the spinnability of SPI/PEO aqueous solution.Diameters of the fibers reduced as well as distribute narrowly along with the adding of PEO.The applied voltage, flow rate and the distance from tip to collector had an effect on the morphology of the SPI/PEO fibers.Too high or too low would lead to defects of fibers.The favor electrospinning parameters of SPI/PEO (10wt%) blend solution are as below:the SPI/PEO mass ratio was 70/30, the voltage was 15kV, the flow rate was 1.5mL/h and the distance from tip to collector was 10cm.