Fiber generators in needleless electrospinning

The conventional electrospinning often uses a needle-like nozzle to produce nanofibers with a very low production rate. Despite the enormous application potential, needle electrospun nanofibers meet difficulties in broad applications in practice, due to the lack of an economic and efficient way to scale up the electrospinning process. Recently, needleless electrospinning has emerged as a new electrospinning mode and shown ability to produce nanofibers on large-scales. It has been established that the fiber generator, also referred to as “spinneret” in this paper, in needleless electrospinning plays a key role in scaling up the nanofiber production. This paper summarizes the recent advances in the development of needleless spinnerets and their influences on electrospinning process, nanofiber quality, and productivity.