Bullet-Spinneret based needleless electrospinning; a versatile way to fabricate continuous nanowebs at low voltage

Abstract

Needleless electrospinning is a practical way to produce continuous webs for the multiple application but the required voltage to produce the webs is much higher which limits its applicability. This study focuses on the development and optimization of new and novel bullet-spinneret which makes it possible to produce the fibers and webs at much lower voltage. Bullet-spinneret was developed and analyzed for the mass production of nanofibers through needleless electrospinning. Analysis of electric field shows that the bullet-spinneret has the maximum intensity of electric field norm on tips of bullets when the distance between two adjacent bullets is equal or greater than 3 cm. It was noted that the bullet-spinneret possess the lowest value of critical voltage around 24 kV than all the other existing spinnerets used in the needleless electrospinning. It was also found that the operating parameters play a key role in controlling the fiber morphology and productivity of bullet-spinneret. This spinneret can be scaled to be used for mass production of better quality and controlled nanofibers and nanowebs at lower voltage.