Theoretical and Experimental Investigations of Nanofibers Formation on the Multiple Nozzle Electrospinning Process

Multiple nozzle electrospinning systems can be designed to increase both productivity and thickness for large scale nanofibers production. In the present study describes the results of the experimental investigation and modeling of multiple jets during the electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solutions. Several multiple nozzle electrospinning setups were tested. PAN solutions (15 w/v%) were electrospun varying the number of nozzles between 1 and 4. Nanofiber morphology was observed under a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). With increasing the number of nozzles in the electrospinning setup from 1 to 4, the average nanofibers diameter increased from 223±26 nm to 519±78 nm. The geometrical alignment and number of the nozzles showed significant effects on the average diameter and the divergence angle between jets. The divergence angle enlargement due to the increase of jets number from 2 to 4, made necessary to increase collector dimensions from 20cm×25cm to 40cm×45cm. It indicates that the interaction between the polymer jets from individual nozzles plays a great role in the electrospun nanofibers formation.