Electrospinning from a convex needle with multiple jet toward better controlling and enhanced production rate

Multiple jet was successfully generated from a convex needle spinneret based on a conventional electrospinning setup. A convexchannel was created in the front part of the needle to generate a limited free surface in the electrospinning process. A highflow rate wasimplemented with more than one polymer jet being produced, resulting in the production rate 2-3 times higher than conventionalelectrospinning. Finer nanofibers were produced from the convex needle when the applied voltage was 19 kV. The electricfield intensity distri-bution of this spinneret was analyzed and compared with conventional needle spinneret by Comsol Multiphysics modeling. The research workhas demonstrated that scaling up the production rate of nanofibers from needle-based free surface electrospinning is possible. It will benefit fur-ther development of electrospinning with enhanced throughput and more precise controlling.