RESEARCH ON THE BEHAVIOR OF SPINNABLE POLYMER SOLUTIONS IN A HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTROSTATIC FIELD

Abstract

Working parameters are very important to understand the nature of electrospinning. Each of these parameters can affect the fibers morphologies and by proper control of these parameters one can fabricate electrospun fibers with desired morphologies and diameters. Jet charge density is known as one of the important parameters affecting the fiber diameter. To investigate the effect of the applied voltage on jet charge density, one must investigate its effects on the jet electric current and flow rate. There are some difficulties in measuring the jet flow rate. In this work, one method is used to calculate the electrospinning jet flow rate. For exemplification, by using a polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution in water, effects of applied voltage and feed rate on jet charge density is investigated. The jet flow rate is calculated applying different voltages, at different constant feed rates. The jet flow rate is independent of the feed rate and dependent on the applied the voltage. By defining an equation for dependence of jet flow rate on current, a relation between jet volume charge density and jet current can be defined. By measuring the electrospun fiber diameter, surface charge density of the jet can also be estimated. On increasing the voltage, the jet volume charge density decreases whereas the jet surface charge density remains unchanged.

Keywords

• electrospinning
• nanofiber
• jet flow rate
• jet charge density
• polyethylene oxyde