Revealing Novel Power Laws and Quantization in Electrospinning considering Jet Splitting - Towards Predicting Fiber Diameter and its distribution

A novel physical model is proposed relating fiber diameter and its distribution to various process parameters. Power laws are derived taking into consideration, applied voltage, viscosity, charge density, surface tension, and jet splitting. It is recommended how researchers should analyze their data to separate various effects. In particular, it is possible to predict not only the fiber diameter but also its distribution.

A review of available theories or models for electrospinning is given, from which the weaknesses become evident. As a consequence a novel theory is given to predict the fiber diameter resulting from electrospinning and its distribution. In particular, scaling laws are predicted based on fundamental physics and revealing some peaks in the fiber diameter distribution are not “experimental failure”, but are physical consequences of jet splitting, appearing as an indication of quantization of the fiber diameter. The key approach is the separation of electrospinning into a flow-dominated and a drying-dominated regime, where jet-splitting occurs at the transition from the one to the other regime. A clear recommendation is given for analyzing experimental data to challenge the predicted scaling laws. The work opens a door towards the design of the electrospinning fiber diameter and its distribution due to the separation of effects considering charge density, adjustable by salts, and surface tension, adjustable by surfactants, which are linked by viscosity.