Comparisons of fibers properties between vertical and horizontal type electrospinning systems

Abstract

The electrospinning system mainly has vertical type and horizontal type according to the geometrical arrangements of ejecting capillary and collection target, where vertical type includes shaft type and converse type. The fibers were obtained in several kinds of typical electrospinning parameters by using three different electrospinning systems. The SEM was used to observe the morphology of fibers, and then the diameters were measure based on the SEM images by IMAGEJ image analysis software. Additionally, the statistic data were analyzed on the basis of Origin software. The differences of fibers diameters and fibers mats morphology between the three electrospinning systems were gained. The results showed that in the shaft type system, the electrospinning fibers were the thinnest because the gravity can strengthen the effect of electric field to make the fiber extend sufficiently, but it had the widest size distribution of fiber diameter; in the converse type system, the fibers were the thickest and the size distribution was the narrowest; in the horizontal type system, the average fiber diameter and size distribution were between the shaft type and the converse type. Therefore, the geometrical arrangements can be selected according the applied need, which may be thinner fiber diameters or more even size distribution. The paper will facilitate to select suitable electrospinning system in the future application. Key words: electrospinning, PVDF, vertical type, horizontal type, fibers