Solution Electrospinning with Pulsed Electric Field

Kaili Li, Ying Wang, Gai Xie, Jingxin Kang, Hong He, Kejian Wang, Yong Liu^*

Getting finer fiber is one of the important goals for electrospinning. This article introduced the orthogonal experimental research of solution electrospinning using the pulsed electric field. The influences of voltage, flow rate, frequency and duty cycle to the mean diameter and diameter distribution of electrospun fibers were investigated. Phenomena of the electrospinning in the pulsed electric field were compared to those in the ordinary electric field. We found that the order of the factors that affect fiber diameter is duty cycle > flow rate > voltage > frequency, and the order of the factors that affect fiber diameter distribution is duty cycle > flow rate > frequency > voltage. In addition, comparing with the ordinary electric field, the pulsed electric field can contribute apparently to reduce the mean fiber diameter and diameter distribution. This study provides important evidence to reduce fiber diameter by using the pulsed electric field.