Electrospinning metallic collectors

Electrospinning based on the application of a static electric field on a polymer solution or melt through a spinneret appears to be a simple and well-controllable technique able to produce polymeric nanofibers. A typical experimental setup is based on a capillary injection tip, a high-voltage source able to apply electric fields of 100-500 KVm , and a metallic collector, or counter electrode. Electric current in electrospinning experiments is usually in the order of a few milliamperes. ... 

The positive electrode is the metal part of the needle and the negative part of the electrode is the metal collector. About 5 to 180 minutes of operation time was applied for the deposition of fibers on wax paper, aluminum foil, and ITO PET. A horizontal setup was chosen for the electrospinning process. A representative picture of design of electrospinning is illustrated in Fig. 4.5. 

The literature reports some examples of functional nanofiber mats prepared by simultaneously electrospinning a polymer solution and electrospraying a particle suspension on the same metallic collector. In electrospraying, when the electric force is higher than the surface tension of the liquid, the jets are atomized into fine droplets that are collected as solid particles. In electrospinning, the electric repulsion force cannot overcome the intermolecular forces in the liquid and, hence, the jet extends, bends and eventually reaches the collector, forming a solid fiber. The resulting nonwoven mat is composed of nanoparticles located on the fiber surface and within the pores of the nonwoven structure (Fig. 20). 

Figure 14.6 shows a schematic illustration of the basic setup for electrospinning. It consists of three major components a high-voltage power supply, a spinnerette (a metallic syringe needle) and a collector (a grounded conductor). 

Figure 13.1 Sketch of a simple electrospinning system. The basic setup comprises a syringe pump containing the polymer fluid. The high voltage power supply linked to the metal needle of the syringe pump. / grounded disk collector where the fibers ejected from the syringe is randomly collected...

---