Digital Electrospinning Array Nanofiber Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrospinning technologies lack precise control over the placement of individual fibers, particularly at the micron- and nano-scale levels, limiting the ability to create complex weaving patterns and strong braids.
Innovation Solution
A digital electrospinning system using an array of addressable nozzles with controlled pressure and voltage modulation allows for the precise movement of nanofibers by synchronizing the flow rate and electrostatic charge, enabling the creation of complex braids without physical movement of nozzles or spinnerets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple needles are arranged in an array to produce multiple fibers simultaneously, then productivity is improved, but control over individual fiber placement is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the electrospinning system into independently controllable segments (needles/electrodes) arranged in an array. Each needle can be individually activated or deactivated through independent voltage control, allowing selective fiber production from specific positions while maintaining high productivity from the entire array.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically controls the electrospinning process by modulating voltage applied to each needle in real-time. This dynamic control enables individual needles to be turned on/off or adjusted independently, providing precise spatial control over fiber placement while the array collectively maintains high production rates.
2Adaptability or versatility
If nozzles are physically moved to change fiber location, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity and mechanical motion requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical movement of nozzles with electrical control of an array of stationary nozzles. Instead of physically moving a single nozzle to different positions, the system keeps all nozzles fixed and uses electrical voltage modulation to activate specific nozzles, thereby controlling fiber location without any mechanical motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from one-dimensional nozzle movement to a two-dimensional array of stationary nozzles. By distributing nozzles across a spatial array and controlling them individually through voltage, the system achieves positional control in multiple directions simultaneously without requiring physical nozzle movement.
3Shape
If electrical field is modulated using macro-scale oppositely charged surfaces, then fiber orientation is improved, but interleaving capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the electrical field control into individually addressable electrodes corresponding to each nozzle position in the array. This segmentation allows independent voltage modulation at each position, enabling complex spatial patterns and interleaving of fibers from different nozzle positions that would be impossible with macro-scale uniform field modulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality control by modulating the electrical field at each individual nozzle position rather than using uniform macro-scale field modulation. This localized control enables different fiber orientations and patterns from different positions, creating interleaved structures with varying local properties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the digital weaving of nanofibers with enhanced mechanical properties, such as strength and flexibility, by allowing precise control over fiber placement and movement across the nozzle array, achieving complex patterns at the micron scale.
Implementation Method 1
In the presence of strong electric fields its normal shape deforms increasingly with voltage. As the electric field's force on the liquid approaches the force of its surface tension, the shape of the liquid becomes conical with a generatrix angle near 49.3° and a rounded vertex.
Implementation Method 2
Surface tension normally drives the shape of a small volume of liquid. However, in the presence of strong electric fields its normal shape deforms increasingly with voltage.
Implementation Method 3
The stream of liquid from the Taylor cone in the region nearest the spinning tip undergoes an ohmic flow with a slow acceleration.
Implementation Method 4
Farther from the spinning tip up to the target, which may be grounded, the liquid has convective flow within a rapid acceleration region, which is a transitional zone for the material as it transforms from a liquid to a solid.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes applying pressure to a liquid feed of nanofiber material at a first nozzle of an array of nozzles having a first electrode voltage applied to a first electrode within an array of nozzles to form a first enlarged meniscus having a nanofiber attached, applying pressure to the liquid feed at a second nozzle having a second electrode voltage applied to a second electrode and adjacent the first nozzle within the array to form a second enlarged meniscus, increasing the second electrode voltage applied to the second electrode to a voltage level equal to voltage applied to the first electrode when the first and second enlarged menisci meet and form a combined meniscus with the nanofiber attached, decreasing the first electrode voltage to zero, and decreasing pressure on the liquid feed at the first nozzle to separate the first enlarged meniscus at the first nozzle from the second enlarged meniscus at the second nozzle having the nanofiber attached.