Mechanism and experimental simulation of non-isothermal melt formation induced by voltage change under auxiliary heating

Abstract

Over the past few decades, it has been universally acknowledged that melt-electrospinning is an attractive solvent-free production process with the aim of alleviating the solvent-related problems generated by traditional electrospinning techniques. Up to now, the temperature and applied voltage have been considered as the two most important factors affecting the melt-electrospinning process and electrospun fibers. In this paper, an auxiliary heating setup was applied to the melt electrospinning system to deeply understand the effect of heat distribution on the melt-electrospun fibers. Jet motions, morphologies, mechanical properties and inner structures of the fibers obtained under different applied voltage conditions with and without auxiliary heating were investigated. The temperature distribution in melt-electrospinning system was simulated by COMSOL Multiphysics software. The experimental results showed that a higher applied voltage results in a smaller fiber diameter, more disordered fiber mat and lower degree of strength with auxiliary heating. The simulation results of the temperature distribution in the spinneret-collector region are in good agreement with the measured values of the infrared images, which proves the feasibility and accuracy of the model.