Page 216 - Biodegradable Polyesters

194 8 Systematic Development of Electrospun PLA/PCL Fiber Hybrid Mats

The simple laboratory-scaled electrospinning apparatus was initially set up
on the basis of four main components including a ground collector, a Fusion
100 syringe pump (Chemyx Inc., Stafford, TX, USA) to automatically control
the flow rate of solution, a spinneret, and the positive electrode of a ES30P-5 W
high-voltage power supply (Gamma High Voltage Research, Ormond Beach, FL,
USA), as illustrated in Figure 8.1.
During the electrospinning process at room temperature, the solution was
released using a 10 ml syringe pump with a 20G metallic needle (approximately
0.584 mm in inner diameter). The flow rate of polymer solution was set at
−1
2mlh , and the applied positive voltage setting was in range of 25–28 kV. The
resulting fibers were collected by a flat aluminum foil sheet on a mesh collector.
The needle tip-to-collector distance was 13 cm. The thickness of the fiber mats
ranged from 300 to 500 μm.

Figure 8.1 Laboratory-scaled electrospinning apparatus.