Focused rotary jet spinning devices and methods of use thereof
AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsQihan Liu, Kevin Kit Parker, Huibin Chang
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Abstract
Systems and methods for focused direction deposition of a micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fiber and materials of such fibers are described herein. Systems and methods employ one or more gas flows to entrain and deflect fibers produced by a rotary jet spinning system forming a focused fiber stream. Some embodiments enable control of alignment and distribution of the fibers with a relatively high fiber throughput.
Claims27
A system for focused directional deposition of one or more micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fibers, the system comprising:
- a reservoir configured to hold a material including a polymer and rotatable about a rotation axis, the reservoir including:
- a first end;
- a second end opposite the first end;
- an outer sidewall extending from the first end to the second end, a shape of the reservoir including one or more apertures disposed radially inward from the outer sidewall of the reservoir that are configured to enable a gas to move through the reservoir from the first end to the second end;
- and
- one or more orifices formed in the outer sidewall, each of the one or more orifices configured for ejection of the material radially outward through the orifice as an ejected jet during rotation of the reservoir;
- and
- one or more gas flow sources, each configured to direct a flow of gas from upstream of the first end of the reservoir through the one or more apertures of the reservoir from the first end to the second end of the reservoir and downstream of the second end of the reservoir during rotation of the reservoir the one or more gas flow sources collectively forming a combined gas flow in a first direction downstream of the second end of the reservoir that entrains and deflects the one or more ejected jets to form a focused stream of the one or more micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fibers in a first direction, the first direction having an orientation that is within 5 degrees of the rotation axis of the reservoir.
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A method for formation and deposition of at least one micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fiber, the method comprising:
- rotating a reservoir holding a material comprising a polymer about a rotation axis to eject at least one jet of material from at least one orifice defined by an outer sidewall of the reservoir;
- directing at least one flow of gas through a portion of the reservoir radially inward of the outer sidewall, the at least one flow of gas directed from an upstream first end of the reservoir to a downstream second end of the reservoir during rotation of the reservoir and ejection of the at least one jet of the material to form at least one micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fiber, the at least one flow of gas entraining the at least one micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fiber and forming a focused fiber deposition stream of the at least one micron or nanometer dimension polymeric fiber in a first direction, the first direction having an orientation of within 5 degrees of the rotation axis of the reservoir;
- and
- collecting the focused fiber deposition stream on a target surface.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.