Electrospun filaments

A method for producing a continuous filament from electrospun fibres, comprising:

• passing a conducting wire through free space to provide an elongate, three-dimensional collection surface accessible to electrospun fibres coming into contact with the conducting wire;
• moving the conducting wire in a direction along its length;
• forming an attractive electric field gradient between the conducting wire and a source of electrically charged fibres;
• wherein the conducting wire is moved relative to the source of electrically charged fibres;
• collecting the fibres on the elongate, three-dimensional collection surface of the conducting wire so as to form a continuous filament along the length of the underlying conducting wire;
• wherein the elongate, three-dimensional collection surface of the conducting wire has a three-dimensional shape accessible in free space and the continuous filament thereby being formed with a corresponding three-dimensional shape that corresponds to the three-dimensional shape of the underlying conducting wire;
• and
• separating the continuous filament from the elongate, three-dimensional collection surface of the underlying conducting wire whilst retaining the corresponding three-dimensional shape of the continuous filament.