An Investigation into the Effects of Electric Field Uniformity on Electrospun TPU Fiber Nano-Scale Morphology

Abstract

ANSYS Maxwell was used to replicate the conditions of two potential electrospinning configurations: a needle–plate and a parallel-plate configuration. Simulations showed that the electric field generated within the parallel-plate configuration was much more uniform than that within the needle–plate configuration. Both configurations were assembled and used electrospin fibers at three different spinning distances (10 cm, 12 cm, and 15 cm), at a consistent electric field strength of 1.7 kV/cm. Scanning electron microscopy was used to compare the morphologies of the fibers produced in both configurations in order to confirm whether a more uniform electric field yielded thinner fibers. The results show that the needle–plate configuration produced finer fibers than the parallel-plate configuration at all three spinning distances. However, there was no difference in the fiber diameters produced at the 12 and 15 cm spinning distances within the needle–plate configuration, implying thinning may only occur up to a certain distance in this configuration.