Investigation into Jet Motion and Fiber Properties Induced by Electric Fields in Melt Electrospinning
Xueqin Li, Yuansheng Zheng, Xiaoqi Mu, Binjie Xin, Lantian Lin
Abstract
Electric fields play a key role in producing required fibers during the electrospinning process. The effects of electric fields on the jet motion, resultant fiber diameter, fiber membrane thickness, crystallinity, and mechanical properties induced by three different melt electrospinning systems were investigated in this work in a comprehensive and systematic manner. Intended for thoroughly understanding the electric field distribution, numerical simulation was used in the experiment. Besides, high-speed photography was adopted, with the objective of capturing the related and necessary images in the process of jet motion. Our simulation and experimental results indicated that both direction and intensity of electric fields play an important role in jet motion and resultant fiber properties, that is, an enhanced electric field with the same direction as the original electric field results in a fiber with a finer diameter, larger crystallinity, and better mechanical performance due to higher whipping amplitude, greater whipping frequency, and more efficient stretching of the jet; by contrast, the electric field distribution in the opposite direction created by auxiliary electrodes with inverse voltage produces a nonuniform fiber with a larger diameter, a smaller crystallinity, poorer mechanical performance, and a fluffy fiber membrane because of unstable jet motion and inefficient stretching.