Investigation of the effects of melt electrospinning parameters on the direct-writing fiber size using orthogonal design

Melt electrospinning is a complex process, and many of the processing parameters can impact the result of fiber formation. In this paper, we conducted a systematic investigation on the impacts of the melt electrospinning parameters (including temperature, needle gauge, flow rate and collector speed) on the fiber diameter via an orthogonal design experiment. The straight single fibers were fabricated using melt electrospinning in a direct-writing way with a diameter varied from 9.68 ± 0.93 μm to 48.55 ± 3.72 μm. The results showed that the fiber diameter changed differently against different parameters: when the temperature or needle gauge increased, the fiber diameter increased first and then decreased; when the flow rate increased, the fiber diameter decreased first and then increased; when the collector speed increased, the fiber diameter decreased monotonously. We also found that the collector speed was the most influential factor while the needle gauge was least important in determining the diameter of the fiber. Moreover, the feasibility of melt electrospinning in a direct-writing way as a novel 3D printing technology had been demonstrated by fabricating both uniform and controllable structures with high accuracy, based on the optimal parameters from the orthogonal experiments. The promising results indicated that melt electrospinning can be developed as a powerful technique for fabricating miniatured parts with high resolution and controllable structures for versatile potential applications.