Impact of Overlapping Collector on Orientated Deposition of Electrospun Nanofibers

ABSTRACT

Standard electrospinning deposits disorderly nanofibers on a conducting collector owing to unstable whipping of the jet. Nevertheless, biological engineering requires orderly electrospun nanofibers to improve mechanical properties and cellular proliferation. An attempt is made to fabricate well-orientated nanofibers by applying an overlapping collector. It turns out that electrospinning deposits random and disorderly nanofibers as usual even if conducting aluminum foil, as a collector, overlaps insulating poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film. When insulating PET film overlapping aluminum foil is applied as a collector, the PET film accumulates ions to repel the whipping filament in the space while nonoverlapping aluminum foil attracts the filament such that electrospinning deposits orientated nanofibers on the insulating PET film.

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