Improved Fiber Uniformity and Jet Number in Multi-spinneret Electrospinning via Auxiliary Electrode

Abstract

Auxiliary-electrode electrospinning process is a novel technique to improve nanofiber production rate Due to the formation of multiple jets. In the present work, dual-spinneret (DSE) and tri-spinneret electrospinning (TSE) with an auxiliary electrode were employed to evaluate the number of jets and fiber uniformity in this electrospinning process. The results showed that all the spinnerets in DSE and TSE with an auxiliary electrode could produce 2–12 jets, which could be adjusted by controlling the process parameters such as applied voltage and injection speed. The number of jets initially increased and then decreased with a rise in applied voltage in these two systems. Moreover, the produced nanofibers were smaller in size and possessed a more uniform fiber diameter per distribution in comparison to those without the auxiliary electrode. This work provides a new insight on mass production of nanofibers and designing electrospinning apparatus.