Electro spinning of submicron diameter polymer filaments
First Claim
1. An electro spinning process for extruding a thread-forming polymer and drawing between an electrically charged die, having a first electrical bias and a first polarity and an electrically charged collecting means to produce a continuous polymer filament, comprising the steps of:
- liquefying the thread-forming polymer and extruding through a die orifice to form a liquid-state filament, drawing the liquid-state filament through a longitudinally sequentially biased electrostatic field having the same polarity as the first polarity, thereby imparting a bias gradient to the liquid-state filament, solidifying the liquid-state filament to form a linearly oriented solid polymer filament, and collecting the solid polymer filament on the collecting means.
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Abstract
An electro spinning process yields uniform, nanometer diameter polymer filaments. A thread-forming polymer is extruded through an anodically biased die orifice and drawn through an anodically biased electrostatic field. A continuous polymer filament is collected on a grounded collector. The polymer filament is linearly oriented and highly uniform in quality. The filament is particularly useful for weaving body armor, for chemical/biological protective clothing, as a biomedical tissue growth support, for fabricating micro sieves and for microelectronics fabrication.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An electro spinning process for extruding a thread-forming polymer and drawing between an electrically charged die, having a first electrical bias and a first polarity and an electrically charged collecting means to produce a continuous polymer filament, comprising the steps of:
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liquefying the thread-forming polymer and extruding through a die orifice to form a liquid-state filament, drawing the liquid-state filament through a longitudinally sequentially biased electrostatic field having the same polarity as the first polarity, thereby imparting a bias gradient to the liquid-state filament, solidifying the liquid-state filament to form a linearly oriented solid polymer filament, and collecting the solid polymer filament on the collecting means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An electro spinning apparatus for producing a continuous polymer filament, fiber and the like from a thread-forming polymer, which comprises:
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a. an electrically conductive liquid polymer extrusion die having at least one die orifice, b. an electrically conductive filament collection means spaced from the die orifice, c. an electrode means positioned between the die orifice and the filament collection means, the electrode means comprising n chargeable electrodes, wherein n is an integer of from 1 to 50, d. means for providing a first electrical bias to the die and an (n+2)th electrical bias to filament collection means, e. means for providing a second electrical bias to the electrode means, said second electrical bias having the same polarity and a magnitude equal to or less than that of the first electrical bias. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification