ABSTRACT
Electrospinning is a process that electrifies a jet of a polymer solution to produce continuous micro- or nanofibers. The solution must have a viscosity that maintains the integrity of the fiber from the formation of the jet to the drying of the fiber. The fibers are usually collected in the form of mats with small pore sizes. The solutions for electrospinning may also contain additives that become part of the fiber. To date, most electrospinning has been conducted to create fibers from synthetic polymers or natural polymers, dissolved in nonaqueous solvents for applications mainly in the biomedical field and filtration. Very few studies have been conducted using food-based biopolymers such as proteins or polysaccharides, which have potential use in the food industry.
This chapter will cover the electrospinning process for synthetic and natural polymers and then focus on the electrospinning process for edible food-based polymers.
