Apparatus and method for manufacturing polymeric fibrils
AssigneeTaiwan Textile Research Institute
InventorsHaw-Jer Chang, Hung-En Chen, Po-Hsiung Huang, Jen-Hsiung Lee, Ching-Hui Tseng
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Abstract
An electrospinning apparatus is described. The electrospinning apparatus has a rotary nozzle mechanism that moves simultaneously along a non-linear track for forming polymeric fibrils, so that the polymeric fibrils can be piled to form a uniform web on a receiving carrier from any receiving angle. Therefore, the electrospinning apparatus resolves problems of the prior polymeric fibrils, such as various distribution and slow production rate. In addition, a method of manufacturing polymeric fibrils in the aforementioned electrospinning apparatus is further described.
Claims33
An electrospinning apparatus, comprising:
- a rotating shaft configured to spin around an axis thereof;
- at least one rotary supporting device including at least one outlet mounted thereon, the at least one supporting device being pivoted on an end of the rotating shaft, wherein the axis is tilted at a tilt angle in a range of about 0 to 45 degrees with respect to a vertical direction and is configured to revolve around the vertical direction whereby the rotating shaft, when in operation, simultaneously spins around the axis and revolves at the tilt angle around the vertical direction, a discharging electrode is disposed in and electrically connected to the outlet, and the outlet is connected to a duct by which a polymer solution is introduced;
- a receiving carrier;
- and
- a collector located below the rotary supporting device and having a surface to face the outlet;
- whereby when a voltage is applied to the discharging electrode for ejecting the polymer solution from the outlet, charged polymeric fibrils are formed and piled on the receiving carrier above the collector, while the receiving carrier simultaneously advances along a direction and the outlet moves along a non-linear track, thus forming a web on a surface of the receiving carrier.
A rotary nozzle mechanism, suitable for an electrospinning apparatus, the rotary nozzle mechanism comprising:
- a rotating shaft configured to spin around an axis thereof;
- and
- at least one supporting device including at least one outlet mounted thereon, the at least one supporting device being pivoted on an end of the rotating shaft, wherein the axis is tilted at a tilt angle in a range of about 0 to 45 degrees with respect to a vertical direction and is configured to revolve around the vertical direction whereby the rotating shaft, when in operation, simultaneously spins around the axis and revolves at the tilt angle around the vertical direction, and the outlet is electrically connected to a discharging electrode and is connected to a duct by which a polymer solution is introduced;
- whereby when a voltage is applied to the discharging electrode for ejecting the polymer solution from the outlet, charged polymeric fibrils are formed and piled on a receiving carrier above a collector, while the receiving carrier advances simultaneously along a direction and the outlet moves along a non-linear track, thus forming a web on a surface of the receiving carrier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.