Simulation on electrical field distribution and fiber falls in melt electrospinning

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Physics
• Computational Science

Background:

• Electrospinning is a standard technique for continuous nanofiber production.
• Understanding fiber chain dynamics during electrospinning is crucial for process optimization.
• Mesoscale simulation methods offer insights into complex phenomena like electrospinning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of electrostatic force, temperature, and viscosity on the electrospinning process using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD).
• To develop and validate an electrical force formula for electrospinning simulations.
• To explore the relationship between polymer chain length and fiber falling velocity.

Main Methods:

• Finite Element Method (FEM) for simulating electrostatic field distribution.
• Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) mesoscale simulations to model fiber chain behavior.
• Qualitative simulation of electrostatic force, temperature, and viscosity effects.

Main Results:

• Fiber falling velocity increases with higher electrostatic force.
• Reduced polymer viscosity leads to quicker fiber falling.
• Increased polymer viscosity significantly enhances fiber diameter.
• A novel inverse relationship between fiber falling velocity and polymer chain length was identified.

Conclusions:

• DPD simulations accurately predict the impact of viscosity on fiber diameter and falling velocity, consistent with experimental data.
• The study provides new insights into the role of polymer chain length in electrospinning dynamics.
• This work enhances the understanding of electrospinning mechanisms through computational modeling.