Development and validation of a home-built electrospinner unit

摘要

In this study, an Arduino-based electrospinning device was developed with which the electrospun-fibre properties can be accurately controlled by varying the process parameters; voltage, flow rate and the needle-collector distance. The performance of the machine was evaluated by spinning a biocompatible material, thermoplastic poly-urethane (TPU). N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was chosen as the solvent for the TPU because of its suitable electrical conductivity and ideal viscosity for the electrospinning process. In addition, tetrahydrofuran (THF) was mixed in the solution in order to control the morphology of the spun fibres. The effect of the different parameters on the fibre morphology was studied by varying both the machine and material parameters. Solutions with different concentrations of TPU (8-15 wt.%) and ratio's DMF/THF (50/50, 60/40, 80/20) were tested at different settings for the applied voltage (9-18 kV), needle-collector distance (12-19.5 cm) and flow rate (0.6-1 ml/h). The addition of THF drastically decreased the amount of beads present in the samples, suggesting that the solvent completely evaporated. Furthermore, the samples appeared to be stronger after the addition of THF. The smallest average diameter attained was around 900 nm this was achieved using an 8 wt.% TPU solution, 50/50 DMF/THF ratio, a voltage of 15 kV, a needle-collector distance of 17 cm and a flow rate of 0.8 ml/h, which is comparable to results found in previous research. These results confirm the ability of this machine to achieve results comparable to that of laboratory commercial machines at a fraction of the price.