Effects of electrospinning parameters on peanut protein isolate nanofibers diameter

Electrospinning technology is a common method for preparing ultrafine fibers and nanofibers. Using natural or synthetic polymers as raw materials, fibers with diameters ranging from tens of nanometers to several microns can be prepared. Using hexafluoroisopropanol as solvent, electrospinning was applied to peanut protein, and the resulting fiber morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy. Using the Box–Behnken design for the response surface method, the solution concentration, voltage, and spinning speed were selected as the three main influencing factors, the peanut protein isolate(PPI) fiber diameter was the object of investigation, and the second-order multiple regression model was established through regression analysis. The results showed that solution mass fraction had the most significant effect on fiber diameter, followed by voltage and spinning speed. The optimal conditions obtained by the simulated annealing algorithm were, as follows: Solution mass fraction, 10%; voltage, 16 kV; spinning speed, 0.6 mL/h. The predicted fiber diameter was 151 nm and the actual fiber diameter obtained experimentally was 164 nm. The fiber diameter predicted by the model was in good agreement with the real value, indicating that the model effectively predicted the diameter of electrospun PPI fiber. The use of response surface methodology to design experiments is of great significance for nanofiber preparation by electrospinning technology.