Enhancement of coil electrospinning using two-level coil structure

© 2018 American Chemical Society. Coil-based electrospinning is among the most efficient needleless electrospinning technologies. Conventional coil electrospinning typically uses a coil with a smooth wire surface as the spinneret. The effect of wire surface morphology on coil electrospinning and nanofiber production is scarcely reported. Herein, we report a novel coil electrospinning that has a secondary coil structure on the coil spinneret. The secondary coil was found to have a great effect on the coil electrospinning process. It reduced the voltage for jet initiation by 4 kV and increased the nanofiber production rate by over 170% but had little influence on fiber diameter. The finite element analysis indicated that the secondary coil structure increased the electric field intensity on the coil surface and fiber-generating areas. These novel understandings may be useful for designing high-efficiency electrospinning spinnerets for nanofiber mass production.