In many emerging high value electrospinning applications, the diameter distribution of electrospun nanofibers has important implications for the product’s performance and process economics. However, the current state-of-the-art electrospinning process results in varying diameter distributions, both during a run and from run-to-run. To address this problem, our research is focused on developing ...

With the relatively new technique of coaxial electrospinning, composite fibres of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) with the liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-octylbiphenyl in its smectic phase as core material could be produced. The encapsulation leads to remarkable confinement effects on the liquid crystal, inducing changes in its phase sequence. We conducted a series of experiments to determine the effect of v...

The broader application of liposomes in regenerative medicine is hampered by their short half-life and inefficient retention at the site of application. These disadvantages could be significantly reduced by their combination with nanofibers. We produced 2 different nanofiber-liposome systems in the present study, that is, liposomes blended within nanofibers and core/shell nanofibers with embedd...

BACKGROUND Electrospinning is a non-mechanical processing strategy that can be used to process a variety of native and synthetic polymers into highly porous materials composed of nano-scale to micron-scale diameter fibers. By nature, electrospun materials exhibit an extensive surface area and highly interconnected pore spaces. In this study we adopted a biological engineering approach to ask ho...

We report the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of an externally-fed, silicon batchfabricated MEMS electrospinning planar array with as many as 9 steady-operating emitters in 1 cm – more than a 7-fold increase in emitter density compared to state-of-the-art MEMS multiplexed electrospinning sources. The device simultaneously generates multiple nanofiber jets at 20 kV or less...

Electrohydrodynamic atomization phenomena have increasingly attracted the attention of researchers who are interested in building micro- or nanometer architectures, such as fibers and encapsulated particles with a controllable microstructure. There are two main electrohydrodynamic atomization techniques: electrospraying and electrospinning. These techniques are unique processes in that they pro...

We present a method for the electrospinning of conducting polymeric composite nanofibers using a poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS)-based microfluidic device. To scale-up the process and spin multicomponent systems, we designed a unique multi-spinnerette electrospinning device using microchannels cast in PDMS. Nanofibers of poly (vinylpyrrolidone) and its composite with polypyrrole were successfull...

A new nozzle system for the efficient production of multi-layered nanofibers through electrospinning is reported. Developed a decade ago, the commonly used coaxial nozzle system consisting of two concentric cylindrical needles has remained unchanged, despite recent advances in multi-layered, multi-functional nanofibers. Here, we demonstrate a core-cut nozzle system, in which the exit pipe of th...

Electrospinning uses electrical forces to produce polymer fibres with nanometre-scale diameters. Electrospinning occurs when the electrical forces at the surface of a polymer solution or melt overcome the surface tension and cause an electrically charged jet to be ejected. When the jet dries or solidifies, an electrically charged fibre remains. This charged fibre can be directed or accelerated ...

Electrospinning is a very simple and versatile process by which polymer nanofibers with diameters ranging from a few nanometers to several micrometers can be produced using an electrostatically driven jet of polymer solution or polymer melt. Significant progress has been made in this process throughout the past few years and electrospinning has advanced its applications in many fields, includin...