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The Wonderful World of Melt Electrospinning: How Will This Technology Change the Medical and Textile Industries?
With the advancement of technology and materials science, melt electrospinning technology has become an important innovation that has changed the medical and textile industries. This technology can produce fiber structures with high plasticity and diverse applications through the fiberization process of molten polymers. This article will explore in depth the history, principles, influencing factors, and applications of melt electrospinning in various fields, especially its potential in tissue engineering and textiles.
The birth of melt electrospinning technology was described in a patent by Charles Norton as early as 1936. Since then, the development of this technology has undergone decades of evolution, and it was not until 2001 that scientific research in this field began to gain attention.
Historical evolution of melt electrospinning
Although the foundations of early melt electrospinning were there, it was not until 1981 that Larrondo and Manley described it in detail in a series of papers. In 2001, Reneker and Rangkupan published a conference abstract on the application of melt electrospinning in a vacuum environment, which paved the way for subsequent research. In 2011, the combination of melt electrospinning and dynamic collectors was proposed as a new 3D printing technology, further expanding its application scope.
Basic Principles of Melt Electrospinning
The core of melt electrospinning technology is to use electric field to stretch polymer melt to form fibers. Its physical principle is similar to traditional solution electrospinning. However, the physical properties of molten polymers are significantly different from those of solution polymers, with the former having a higher viscosity. During the melt electrospinning process, the molten polymer needs to solidify rapidly during the cooling process, which allows the formed fibers to reach micrometer diameters.
Melt electrospinning differs from solution electrospinning in that the polymer in a molten state allows for a more predictable fiber formation process and precise control of its diameter.
Key parameters affecting melt electrospinning
- Temperature: The minimum temperature required to ensure that the polymer is completely melted at the tip of the nozzle.
- Flow rate: Flow rate is one of the most important parameters for controlling fiber diameter. The higher the flow rate, the larger the fiber diameter.
- Molecular weight: The molecular weight of the polymer directly affects the feasibility of melt electrospinning, and the appropriate molecular weight range is between 40,000 and 80,000 g/mol.
- Voltage: Although changes in voltage have little effect on fiber diameter, an optimal voltage is required to ensure high-quality fibers.
Equipment for melt electrospinning
There are currently a variety of melt electrospinning machines, using either vertical or horizontal configurations. There are also different ways to heat polymers, including electrical heating, hot air, etc. Some methods even electrospin solid polymer filaments by pushing them into a laser to melt them.
Application potential of melt electrospinning
The applications of melt electrospinning cover many fields, especially in medicine and textiles. Since no solvent is used, its application in tissue engineering has the advantage of being non-toxic. The fibers produced by melt electrospinning can be used as biomaterials and further used to make tissue scaffolds with extracellular matrix functions.
In the field of drug delivery, melt electrospinning technology can produce drug-loaded fibers to achieve controlled drug release, which has broad prospects.
Future Outlook
Melt electrospinning technology is expected to continue to develop in many fields in the future. With the advancement of science and technology, more new polymers and their combinations will be explored, thereby expanding their application potential in emerging fields such as biomanufacturing, flexible electronics and sensors. How exactly will this technology affect the way we live and work in the future?
