Applications of controlled electrospinning systems

Electrospinning is a powerful technique that uses an electrically forced fluid jet to form nanofibers from a material dissolved in a solvent. While the complex whipping motion of a typical electrospinning jet results in a nonwoven mat of fibers, there have been many developments aimed at controlling the deposition of an electrospinning jet to form more ordered patterns of nanofibers. Such controlled deposition is desirable as it would provide a low-cost fabrication technique for nanoscale devices such as nanomechanical devices, electronic devices, and light-emitting systems. Nanofibers may also be used as masks or templates to create nanoscale structures in other materials. Other modifications to a standard electrospinning system allow for atypical nanofiber morphologies such as hollow or coaxial nanofibers, side-by-side nanofiber deposition, etc. This review will highlight electrospinning systems modified for controlled or atypical deposition, and will discuss applications of the fibers resulting from such systems. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.