Dual electric field induced alignment of electrospun nanofibers

A dual-field method is described to produce aligned fibers by electrospinning. By applying a secondary electric field perpendicular to the primary field, control over the orientation of the fibers on the collector is obtained. The dual-field approach is used in conjunction with dual electrodes and a rotating collector. Both approaches were used to electrospin poly(lactic acid) fibers under conditions intended to produce fibers with a diameter greater then 400 nm to aid observation by optical microscopy and digital photography. Digital photography was used to visualize a large area of aligned fiber and image analysis software was used to quantify the degree of alignment. Fibers aligned with the aid of a dual field showed better alignment than those from a single electric field under otherwise identical conditions.