Mass production of high-quality nanofibers via constructing pre-Taylor cones with high curvature on needleless electrospinning

Abstract

Reasonable structural design of the spinneret plays vital roles in high-quality electrospinning technology. Free-surface electrospinning is among the most efficient needleless electrospinning techniques. However, current free-surface spinnerets have large exposed solution surface, ambiguous electric field, and poor ability stabilizing liquid. Herein, a novel mushroom shaped electrospinning (mushroom-electrospinning) that has a smooth cover was developed to overcome existing problems. The new setup promoted the formation of stable annular pre-Taylor cones with high curvature. The finite element analysis indicated that the mushroom-spinneret avoided the appearance of competitive electric field and concentrated the surface charge of the solution on the pre-Taylor cones. Consequently, the spinneret exhibited an outstanding production capacity of 13.7 g/h and all electrospun membranes showed superior narrow diameter distributions (CV ~ 10%). These novel understandings provide a promising avenue for generating nanofibers with enhanced yield and quality.