Electrospraying of water in the cone-jet mode in air at atmospheric pressure

The electrospraying of water, with high surface tension, in the cone-jet mode in air was generally impeded by an electrical breakdown. In this work, a novel nozzle with a non-conductive fiber was used to electrospray deionized water in the cone-jet mode in air at atmospheric pressure. Results show that the fiber introduced a kinetic energy gain to the liquid before it was electrosprayed, which then successfully overcame the traditional impediment that only a tiny capillary could be used in electrospraying water in air. Our work paves an important way for the electrospraying of water in air. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.