Electrospinning jet velocity

The acceleration of the electrospinning jet comes from the repulsive forces between the charges on the spinning solution. The chaotic movement of the jet after it enters the bending instability phase makes it a challenge to create ordered nanofibrous structure. There are several concepts and methods to construct ordered structure out of electrospun nanofibers and one of the most commonly used techniques is to use a rotating collector. Therefore, knowing the approximate speed of the electrospinning jet allows one to develop appropriate collector to collect ordered fibers or to introduce strain drawing on the fiber. One parameter that influence the jet velocity is the distance of the jet from the tip of the spinning needle. Studies have shown that the velocity of the jet increases away from the needle tip. [Buer et al 2001; Bellan et al 2007]. Not surprisingly, increasing voltage has also been shown to increase the jet velocity [Reneker et al 2012]. In most studies, the electrospinning jet velocity is estimated indirectly from the aligning of the fibers base on the rotating speed of the collector. This measures the velocity at collection and is probably higher than the actual velocity of the electrospinning jet. The table below shows the estimated jet velocity.