A comparative study of jet formation and nanofiber alignment in electrospinning and electrocentrifugal spinning systems

Electrocentrifugal spinning is a recently developed spinning system whose performance is still under investigation by researchers. In this study the process of jet formation in electrocentrifugal spinning is explored and compared to the same process in electrospinning and centrifuge spinning. The results show that the incorporation of the electrical and the centrifugal forces in the electrocentrifugal spinning system leads to the formation of a more stable jet at lower viscosities. It is also shown that the electrocentrifugal spinning method is an efficient technique for the production of aligned nanofiber bundles with enhancement in the mechanical properties. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.