High efficiency electrospinning for deposition of orderly nanofibre

Abstract

A high efficiency near field electrospinning (NFES) process has been developed to deposit polymer nanofibres with orderly patterns. Before the onset of electrospinning, an array of sharp tips was used to draw multiple polymer jets from the droplet to initiate electrospinning process under reduced voltage. With multiple nanofibres deposited simultaneously, the production rate of NFES was increased up to five times. We show the superior position control of this process by assembling nanofibres into controlled complex patterns, such as parallel, grid and ‘Cal’ patterns. Experiments also show that the fibre diameter could be controlled by adjusting electrospinning parameters. This technique makes NFES a potential tool in direct write nanofabrication for possible applications, such as nanogenerator, nanoactuator and nanofluidic devices.

Keywords:

• Nanofibre
• Near field electrospinning
• Poly(ethylene oxide)
• Direct write
• High production rate

The authors would like to acknowledge Y. Q. Jiang for taking SEM pictures.