ABSTRACT
The fast developing technology of electrospinning is a unique way to produce polymer, ceramic, carbon/graphite, composite, and hierarchically structured fibers with diameters typically being hundreds of nanometers. The electrospinning process involves a complex combination of fluid mechanics, polymer science, and electrostatics. Electrostatic aerosol spraying of small molecules can be considered to be the forerunner of electrospinning, and this has been studied for a long time. Unlike electrostatic aerosol spraying that applies to small molecules, electrospinning applies to macromolecules or sol-gels. It is believed that the topological makeup and the physical entanglement of macromolecular chains can prevent the capillary breakup of the electrospinning jet and result in the formation of nanofibers. Before high-speed digital cameras were available, visual observations, and home video images with the speed of 30 frames per second, of electrospinning jet/filament were interpreted as evidence that electrospinning was a process that split/splayed the primary jet into many smaller jets.
