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 non- overlapping aluminum foil attracts the filament such that electrospinning deposits orientated nanofibers on the insulating PET film.