Mass Preparation of Nanofibers by High Pressure Air-Jet Split Electrospinning: Effect of Electric Field

A novel electrospinning method using airflow, namely high pressure air-jet split electrospinning, was proposed to fabricate polymer nanofibers with ultrahigh production rate. 7 wt % polyacrylonitrile spinning solution with a 0.157 Pa s viscosity was divided into micron size droplets by the filter screen in the front of the nozzle, and then these droplets were divided and split through high pressure airflow, which were drafted into nanofibers directly in the electric field and airflow field. In this study, the electric field distributions with different positive electrodes were simulated and their effect on fiber formation was investigated. The results show that electric field distribution and its intensity depended on electrodes area, a broader electric field distribution with a stronger intensity would bring about a larger cone angle of spraying jet region, at the same time, the contrast in the spray region enhanced. When the whole nozzle was charged, thinner fibers with about 170 nm could be prepared and the fiber production was 75.6 g/h. Compared with the conventional needle electrospinning, the throughput of nanofibers could be improved by thousands of times based on this novel electrospinning method. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.