A simple model for nanofiber formation by rotary jet-spinning
Abstract
Nanofibers are microstructured materials that span a broad range of applications from tissue engineering scaffolds to polymer transistors. An efficient method of nanofiber production is rotary jet-spinning (RJS), consisting of a perforated reservoir rotating at high speeds along its axis of symmetry, which propels a liquid, polymeric jet out of the reservoir orifice that stretches, dries, and eventually solidifies to form nanoscale fibers. We report a minimal scaling framework complemented by a semi-analytic and numerical approach to characterize the regimes of nanofiber production, leading to a theoretical model for the fiber radius consistent with experimental observations. In addition to providing a mechanism for the formation of nanofibers, our study yields a phase diagram for the design of continuous nanofibers as a function of process parameters with implications for the morphological quality of fibers.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- November 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.3662015
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1110.1424
- Bibcode:
- 2011ApPhL..99t3107M
- Keywords:
-
- nanofabrication;
- nanofibres;
- phase diagrams;
- 81.16.-c;
- 81.30.Dz;
- 61.46.Df;
- Methods of nanofabrication and processing;
- Phase diagrams of other materials;
- Nanoparticles;
- Condensed Matter - Materials Science;
- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter
- E-Print:
- Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 203107 (2011)