Influence of electric field interference on double nozzles electrospinning

The low production rate of electrospinning process may limit the industrial use of single needle system. To meet high yield requirement and uniform fibers, a bottom‐up multiple jets electrospinning nozzle was designed, each nozzle can emit 6–18 jets. The influence of electric field interference on jet path, membrane shape, and fiber morphology were investigated. Experiment finds that electrical field strength in the closer part of two nozzles is weakened because of electric field interference when the distance between two nozzles is 30 mm, making the jet hard to emit in this section, and closer part of electrospun fiber webs has fewer fibers. The spinning in far side part of two nozzles is similar to that of single nozzle. While in middle part of one nozzle, the jet path is short, elongation of jets smaller, the formed fibers thicker, solvent evaporation less sufficient. When the distance of two nozzles is increased to 50 mm, influence of electric field interference is weaker, the electrospun fiber web and average diameter of fibers are almost the same as that of single nozzle electrospinning. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010