Numerical Study of Taylor Cone Dynamics in Electrospinning of Nanofibers

Abstract:

Nanofibers produced by electrospinning are attractive for a large variety of applications in material science. Formation of Taylor cone is an integral part of electrospinning process. To understand deeply its formation, a two-phase electro-hydrodynamic simulation under the volume-of-fluid (VOF) model is proposed. The electric force in such systems acts only at the interface and is zero elsewhere in the two fluids. Continuum surface force (CSF) model is adopted to compute the electric field force at the interface. For the study case, transient analyses showed the moving flow fronts and their interactions with the applied electric field. Two symmetric vortices, which occur in Taylor cone, will increase the solution velocity. A beaded nanofiber can be formed owing to the beads occur in cone jet. The numerical results were consistent with previous studies. According to the numerical results, the formation mechanism and nanofiber dynamics of the Taylor cone in a multiphase flow were well disclosed for deep explanation of the process.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 730)
• Pages: 510-515
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.730.510
• Online since: February 2017
• Authors: Hui Fen Guo, Bin Gang Xu*
• Keywords: Continuum Surface Force (CSF), Electrospinning Nonafiber, Taylor Cone, Volume-of-Fluid (VOF)

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