Electrospinning on a plucked string

Preparation of high-quality nanofibers by electrospinning with low applied voltage and industrial scales remains challenging. A novel differential electrospinning technology for nanofiber preparation was proposed, with which multiple jets are generated from the string by plucking. The spinning principles were investigated, and the operation parameters were optimized. Results showed that lower threshold electric field was required for jets generation by plucked string electrospinning compared with the conventional needleless electrospinning. The finest average diameter of nanofibers with a narrow distribution range of 143 ± 16 nm was obtained at an applied voltage of 25 kV, a PVA concentration of 8 wt%, a rotational speed of 150 rpm and a spinning distance of 7 cm. The maximum yield for single string was as high as 2.64 g h −1 at a PVA concentration of 12 wt%. It was demonstrated that the proposed technology is feasible for manufacturing of nanofibers with lower voltage and high productivity as the string could be modularly extended.