Pattern of polymer nanofibers via electrospinning

In recent years, electrospinning has been arisen, because polymer fibers prepared by this technique are able to achieve fiber diameter in the range of nanometers to a few micrometers. Generally, electrospun web is of white color and without any pattern. The preparation of the patterned web seems to occur as using patterned and/or decorative collector in electrospinning. It is found that electrospinning can directly prepare the patterned web with light and shade. To induce electrospun web with a unique patterned, shape, the basic principle is to make use of the electric potential difference of a collector surface. Various patterns at electrospun web were successfully prepared as using the patterned collector and imaged with a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and an automatic force microscopy (AFM). As the results of analysis of those SEM and AFM, the patterned web has different morphology due to induce the electric potential difference of a collector surface. AFM images revealed that much thinner fibers in higher electric potential regions are observed here in electrospinning for patterning than fibers formed from in lower electric potential regions. Finally, this study has opened the feasibility to form interesting electrospun web with a nice-looking decoration.