Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.53, No.38, 14876-14884, 2014
Electric Field Design for Multijet Electropsinning with Uniform Electric Field
Electric field plays a key role in producing required nanofibers in electrospinning. This study aims to achieve uniform electric field distribution in multijet electrospinning by designing the appropriate spinneret and collector geometry. Based on the three-dimensional electric field simulation, three kinds of spinneret and two kinds of collectors have been designed. The simulation results show that a flat spinneret creates a more uniform electric field distribution than the multineedle spinneret with an auxiliary plate. The two-step spinneret can intensify the electric field at the central area and create a rather uniform electric field. A smaller collector creates a more uniform electric field distribution, and a curved collector creates a more uniform surface electric field. The simulation results have been verified by experiments. The experiments show that thinner and more uniform fibers are collected when using the two-step spinneret and a smaller flat collector, and the thickness of fiber mat is more uniform.