Nanofibers from gas-assisted polymer melt electrospinning

The concept of a gas-assisted polymer melt electrospinning process is presented. This technique allows for reduced quenching of the melt jet in the spinning region, and thus increasing the jet attenuation rate and resulting in production of sub-micron scale fibers. A comprehensive melt electrospinning model was used to analyze the effects of the heated air stream on the polymer jet. It was found that under the investigated conditions in electrospinning of polylactic acid (PLA) melt, air drag produced an additional 10% thinning compared to the un-assisted melt electrospinning process, and the heating provided by the air stream resulted in an additional 20-fold jet thinning. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.