Formation of oriented fibers using injection of PEO solutions inside electric fields defined by two parallel suspended electrodes

Abstract

Formation of oriented fibers using injection of polyethylene oxide (PEO) solutions inside electric fields defined by two parallel suspended electrodes is investigated. Images of streams formed with the injection of a large amount of polymeric solution reveal good agreement with electric field distributions obtained with numerical simulation (COMSOL Multiphysics) when appropriate boundary conditions are defined. Oriented fibers with diameters in the range of hundreds of nanometers to micrometers result connected between electrodes (separated by several centimeters) and can be easily collected/transferred keeping their orientation. Fibers with this characteristic find applications in topics such as tissue and sensors engineering. Also, the fibers are flexible and can be shaped with the stylus of a profilometer. Index Terms nanofibers, fiber orientation, polyethylene oxide, and polymeric fiber.