Electrospinning Video Gallery

Electrospinning & Electrospraying

Electrospinning & Electrospraying Video Gallery

Electrospinning Process

This video shows the electrospinning process inside the Fluidnatek LE-100 while tightly controlling temperature, relative humidity and air flow during sample production. A top-down process offers many advantages over other needle orientations including a stable Taylor cone over time that will not cause secondary jetting. Undesired secondary jetting results in microstructure defects that are not desired. The Fluidnatek has an unrivalled sample production for tight process validation and reproducibility.

Effect of High Voltage in Electrospinning

Electrospinning is a voltage driven process where fibers are generated, typically out of a polymer solution. This video shows the solution dripping from a capillary blunt needle until the voltage is turned ON. Once the voltage is turned ON, charges accumulate on the surface of the solution and the solution is ejected when the surface tension is overcome. The polymer solution is then ejected, solvent evaporates through whipping and bending, and the fibers are generated when the polymer solidifies.

Close up of the Electrospinning Process

This video was taken with the aid of a light underneath the process to easily visualize the formation of polycaprolactone microfibers during the electrospinning process inside a Fluidnatek LE-500 equipment. Electrospinning offers the ability to obtain fiber diameter ranging from 20 nm to 10 µm. Depending on solution and processing parameters, that range can be fine-tuned to lower or larger diameters.

Vertical Electrospinning onto a Flat Plate Collector

Flat plate collectors are the most typical hardware used to deposit electrospun fibers to generate a scaffolding material. This video shows a top-down vertical electrospinning process of polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers inside the Fluidnatek LE-500 with a single needle. A top-down process also allows collection of fibers onto a liquid reservoir collector, sometimes needed to do cross-linking in real-time.

Horizontal Electrospinning onto a Drum Collector

Horizontal electrospinning is becoming a popular choice during solution and sample optimization as gravity helps prevent any dripping onto the collector. The Fluidnatek technology allows the use of the needles in horizontal, vertical or an angle orientation based on application needs. A combination of different orientations with two or more materials is also possible for advanced sample development.

Needle Translation to Improve Thickness Homogeneity

Needle translation is commonly used with the Fluidnatek technology to improve sample homogeneity during fiber or particle deposition onto the collector. Our technology allows control over the length stroke, needle speed, and can also be implemented with dwelling time at the edges to prevent a tapered thickness.

Co-Electrospinning Polycaprolactone and Gelatin Fibers onto a Drum Collector

This video shows the Fluidnatek LE-50 depositing two different materials (polycaprolactone and gelatin fibers) with independent flow rates and voltages. The Fluidnatek LE-50 allows you to independently control each needle translation to generate samples with advanced properties that other system cannot do. For example, the needles can be moved at the same time in the same direction, intercalated at different speed, or with different strokes to only cover portions of the collector.

Electrospun Sample Removal from a Substrate

The use of substrates on top of a collector allows easy sample handling and post-processing. This video shows polylactic acid (PLA) fibers being removed from a substrate made from polyethylene with carbon. Depending on the application other types of substrates like aluminum foil, siliconized aluminum foil, non-woven materials, thin insulating materials, among others, can be used with the Fluidnatek technology.

Generating Artificial Blood Vessels

This video shows the generation of an artificial blood vessel made out of polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers collected onto a 5 mm outside diameter mandrel. By implementing needle translation proper sample coating can be obtained throughout a length of 20 cm with the Fluidnatek LE-50. Depending on the Fluidnatek unit, lengths up to 40 cm, or more, can be achieved.

Generating Tubular Scaffolds

The Fluidnatek can be implemented with different mandrel sizes to generate tubular scaffolds for used in different applications. This video shows polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers being deposited onto a 1 cm outside diameter mandrel while rotating at 200 rpm. Depending on the application needs and platform used, the rotating platform speed can be varied from 20 to 3,000 rpm to fine-tune final microstructure.

Co-Electrospinning Polycaprolactone and Gelatin Fibers onto a Mandrel Collector

This video shows the Fluidnatek LE-100 depositing two different materials (polycaprolactone and gelatin fibers) with independent flow rates and voltages. The Fluidnatek LE-100 allows you to have each needle at independent needle-to-collector distances and angles for maximum optimization on final sample. The same system is used to combine fibers and particles, or even fibers and live cells at the same time.

Tubular Scaffold Removal from Mandrel Collector

Tubular scaffolding removal from a mandrel collector can be challenging as the microstructure can be damaged. The Fluidnatek technology allows you to fine-tune every single parameter during fiber collection allowing you to easily remove the final sample with ease. Coatings on the mandrel can also aid with sample removal and have been implemented in our mandrels for harder to remove materials.

Electrospun Yarn Development

Electrospun yarns are becoming popular in the medical field as they can be used for sutures with incorporated drugs to improve healing or include polymers or other additives to improve mechanical properties. The Fluidnatek units can be incorporated with a yarn collector to generate yarns from one or a more materials. The same collector can be used to coat filaments to also improve their properties not found on the native filament.

Linear Multi-Needle System without Translation

When scaling up the electrospinning process, needle translation and roll-to-roll speed are crucial to obtain a homogeneous sample (thickness or area density). This video shows a linear multi-needle system without needle translation and a roll-to-roll speed of 10 mm/s. Without translation the final sample deposited contains uncoated areas which will result in thickness defects, something not desired when scaling up.

Linear Multi-Needle System with Fast Translation

This video shows how the final sample is affected when a linear multi-needle system has fast needle translation and roll-to-roll speed (each at 100 mm/s). This combination results in an undesired zig-zag patterned structure collected onto the substrate. This can be improved by adjusting the needle translation, roll-to-roll speed, or by simply adding additional linear multi-needle systems intercalated on the system to properly coat the substrate with a homogeneous thickness.

Linear Multi-Needle System with Optimized Translation

Once the process has been optimized with one linear multi-needle system with a needle translation of 20 mm/s and a roll-to-roll speed of 10 mm/s, the final sample deposition is homogenous. Note that these linear injectors contain what we call field deflectors at the edges. These helps improve sample deposition as the jets will not be repelled due to charge repulsion. This furthers improve sample deposition when scaling up the process and are offered on all Fluidnatek systems.

Roll-to-Roll Collector with Conveyor Belt

Scaling up the electrospinning process can become challenging when the substrate adheres to the metal table of the roll-to-roll system or suffers deformations when is being pulled. The Fluidnatek technology allows the use of a real conveyor belt as non-conductive substrates will not adhere due to the use of high voltages. The conveyor belt allows the use of almost any kind of substrate regardless of mechanical properties like stiffness, elasticity or fragility.

Electrospraying Process

The electrospraying technique can generate particles from a polymer solution with diameters ranging from 20 nm to 30 µm based on solution and processing parameters. This video shows the process inside the Fluidnatek LE-500 while tightly controlling all environmental conditions. A top-down process offers many advantages over other needle orientations including a stable Taylor cone and ability to collect particles onto a liquid reservoir.

Electrospun Fibers as a Flame Retardant

One of the materials that can be electrospun with the Fluidnatek technology is nanoscale fiberglass. The video shows a small sample being heat treated with a torch at over 1,200°C. The heat is dissipated thanks to the material properties obtained through electrospinning. These types of fibers have many applications including heat retardant textiles or as paint retardant when pulverized onto particles.

Electrospun Meta Material

Electrospinning is such an amazing technique where sample properties can be fine-tuned to the point that metamaterials could be generated. A metamaterial is an engineered material that has properties not typically found in natural occurring materials. This video shows electrospun samples that become transparent when they touch a surface. Once removed from the surface, light is scattered and seeing through the sample is impossible.

Stability of Needle-based Electrospinning with a Multi-needle Setup

This video showcases the stability of needle-based electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) generated with 60 simultaneous needles and collected onto a roll-to-roll collector. The video is a representative run over the course of 2 hours shortened in a couple minutes. Once the process has been optimized for scalability, the run is stable over extended periods of times and can be further scaled up to industrial production.