Electrospinning of polymeric fibres: an unconventional view on the influence of surface tension on fibre diameter

Abstract

The production of regular and bead-free electrospun polymeric fibres requires an adequate combination of different parameters applied in the experimental setup viz. voltage for electrodeposition, viscosity of the solution, density of the polymeric support, the distance between electrodes and the geometry of the spinneret. Determination of the physical balance of forces on the droplet during fibre production was explored and provides relevant theoretical information about the surface tension and radius of polymeric fibres. Based on these predictions, we prepared polymeric electropun fibres of poly (vinyl alcohol), poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) and Eudragit® L100 in order to analyse non-conventional physical properties of experimental systems such as droplet stiffness and their influence on the diameter of resulting fibres.