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Currently, electrospraying is a novel process for obtaining the nanoparticles from biopolymers. Zein nanoparticles have been obtained by this method and used to protect both hydrophilic and hydrophobic antioxidant molecules from environmental factors. The objective of this work was to prepare and characterize gallic acid-loaded zein nanoparticles obtained by the electrospraying process to provide protection to gallic acid from environmental factors. Thus, it was related to the concentration of gallic acid in physicochemical and rheological properties of the electrosprayed solution, and also to equipment parameters, such as voltage, flow rate, and distance of the collector in morphology, and particle size. The physicochemical properties showed a relationship in the formation of a Taylor cone, in which at a low concentration of gallic acid (1% w/v), low viscosity (0.00464 ± 0.00001 Pa·s), and density (0.886 ± 0.00002 g/cm3 ), as well as high electrical conductivity (369 ± 4.3 µs/cm), forms a stable cone-jet mode. The rheological properties and the Power Law model of the gallic acid-zein electrosprayed solution demonstrated Newtonian behavior (n = 1). The morphology and size of the particle were dependent on the concentration of gallic acid. Electrosprayed parameters with high voltage (15 kV), low flow rate (0.1 mL/hr), and short distance (10 cm) exhibited a smaller diameter and spherical morphology. FT-IR showed interaction in the gallic acid-loaded zein nanoparticle by hydrogen bonds. Therefore, the electrospraying process is a feasible technique for obtaining gallic acid-loaded zein nanoparticles and providing potential protection to gallic acid from environmental factors.

We report a facile and noninvasive way to disintegrate a microdroplet into a string of further miniaturized ones under the influence of an external electrohydrodynamic field inside a microchannel. The deformation and breakup of the droplet was engendered by the Maxwell's stress originating from the accumulation of induced and free charges at the oil-water interface. While at smaller field intensities, for example less than 1 MV/m, the droplet deformed into a plug, at relatively higher field intensities, e.g. ∼1.16 MV/m, a pair of droplets having opposite surface charge was formed. The charged droplets showed an interesting periodic bridging and breakup during their translation motion across the channel. For even higher field intensities, for example more than 1.2 MV/m, the entire droplet underwent dielectrophoresis toward one of the electrodes before experiencing a strong attractive force from the other electrode to deform into a shape of a Taylor cone. With progress in time, mimicking the electrospraying phenomenon, the cone tip periodically ejected a string of miniaturized water droplets to form a microemulsion inside the channel. The frequency and size of the droplet ejection could be tuned by varying the applied field intensity. A water droplet of ∼214 μm diameter could continuously eject droplets of size ∼10 μm or even smaller to form a microemulsion inside the channel.

The current trend for increasing technical complexity in the field of CE-ESI-MS interfaces has incited for more accessible alternatives. In this work, a simple low sheath-flow ESI interface operating in the submicroliter nanospray regime without nebulizing gas assistance was evaluated. The use of sheath liquid enabled improving the ionization of the analytes, while the absence of nebulizing gas minimized sample dilution and loss of efficiency. After a rapid qualification, the effect of main operational parameters such as sheath liquid composition and flow rate, working distance and ESI potential was studied. Simulation of the mixing processes inside the Taylor cone proved its size to be of utmost importance in band broadening processes. As a proof of concept, the interface was eventually applied to a set of representative basic drugs analyzed by CE-TOF/MS. Limits of detection reached the 25-100 ppb range with suitable robustness and repeatability results. This design has demonstrated good performance while being simple and accessible to the user.

Melt electrospun fibers, in general, have larger diameters than normally achieved with solution electrospinning. This study uses a modified nozzle to direct-write melt electrospun medical-grade poly(e-caprolactone) onto a collector resulting in fibers with the smallest average diameter being 275 ± 86 nm under certain processing conditions. Within a flat-tipped nozzle is a small acupuncture needle positioned so that reduces the flow rate to ≈0.1 µL h-1 and has the sharp tip protruding beyond the nozzle, into the Taylor cone. The investigations indicate that 1-mm needle protrusion coupled with a heating temperature of 120 °C produce the most consistent, small diameter nanofibers. Using different protrusion distances for the acupuncture needle results in an unstable jet that deposited poor quality fibers that, in turn, affects the next adjacent path. The material quality is notably affected by the direct-writing speed, which became unstable above 10 mm min-1 . Coupled with a dual head printer, first melt electrospinning, then melt electrowriting could be performed in a single, automated process for the first time. Overall, the approach used here resulted in some of the smallest melt electrospun fibers reported to date and the smallest diameter fibers from a medical-grade degradable polymer using a melt processing technology.

Particulate matter (PM) pollution has become a serious public health issue, especially with outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. However, most present filters are bulky, opaque, and show low‐efficiency PM0.3/pathogen interception and inevitable trade‐off between PM removal and air permeability. Here, a unique electrospraying–netting technique is used to create spider‐web‐inspired network generator (SWING) air filters. Manipulation of the dynamic of the Taylor cone and phase separation of its ejected droplets enable the generation of 2D self‐charging nanostructured networks on a large scale. The resultant SWING filters show exceptional long‐range electrostatic property driven by aeolian vibration, enabling self‐sustained PM adhesion. Combined with their Steiner‐tree‐structured pores (size 200–300 nm) consisting of nanowires (diameter 12 nm), the SWING filters exhibit high efficiency (>99.995% PM0.3 removal), low air resistance (82%), and remarkable bioprotective activity for biohazard pathogens. This work may shed light on designing new fibrous materials for environmental and energy applications., A spider‐web‐inspired network generator (SWING)‐based air filter constructed from 2D electrostatic nanostructured networks is created by a unique electrospraying–netting technique. Due to the self‐sustained electrostatic adhesion driven by aeolian vibration and Steiner‐tree‐structured pores (size 200–300 nm) consisting of nanowires (diameter 12 nm), the SWING filters achieve >99.995% PM0.3 removal, 82% transmittance, and remarkable bioprotective activity.

The use of borosilicate theta glass capillaries as nanoelectrospray ionization emitters has recently been demonstrated as a method for mixing two solutions as they are sprayed into the mass spectrometer for analysis. All previous experiments resulted in a solution mixing timescale limited to the time the analytes spend in the Taylor cone and subsequent droplets (i.e. sub-millisecond timescale). In an effort to extend the solution mixing timescale to the milliseconds regime, we demonstrate that solution can be moved from one channel of the theta tip to the opposite channel via electroosmosis by applying a potential difference between the two wire electrodes inserted into each channel of the theta tip. First, we establish that electroosmosis is responsible for solution movement using fluorescence microscopy to track fluorescent tracer dyes. We then demonstrate the utility of this technique in varying the extent of denaturation of holomyoglobin to apomyoglobin on the millisecond timescale just prior to analysis by mass spectrometry. Finally, we induce additional turbulence for better mixing by applying a square wave potential to one of the wire electrodes while holding the opposite wire at a constant voltage between the low and high potentials of the square wave. This experiment was found to provide nearly complete mixing after a single cycle of the square wave. The use of electroosmosis significantly expands the flexibility of theta tips for altering solutions prior to nESI without the need for off-line sample manipulation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel microspheres of controlled sizes and narrow size distribution were fabricated via electrospraying. To facilitate the formation of microspheres through electrospraying, the gelation time of PEG hydrogels by Michael’s addition reaction between acrylate and thiol were optimized. The effect of electrospraying parameters such as applied voltage, flow rate, needle gauge, and tip to collector distance (TTCD) on Taylor cone formation and microsphere size and distribution was determined. Applied voltage and TTCD had the strongest influence on Taylor cone formation and microsphere size and distribution. By careful design of process parameters a wide range of PEG hydrogel microspheres were obtained, namely 70– 700mm in diameter. The biodegradable PEG hydrogel microspheres developed in this study through a combination of mild gelation chemistry and electrospraying will be valuable in a variety of biological applications including drug and protein delivery, cell encapsulation, and biosensors.

RATIONALE Current large cluster sources such as C60 or argon utilize gas-phase sources which are of low-brightness and cannot be focused efficiently to better than 1 micron diameter spot size. The development of a high-brightness large cluster ion source is of critical importance to achieve high resolution in secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) imaging of organics. METHODS We propose a new high-brightness large cluster ion source, and a technique for producing a stable electrospray of volatile liquids under vacuum. It is known that vacuum electrospray of volatile liquids such as water is extremely difficult because of freezing of the liquids introduced in vacuum by evaporative cooling. To avoid freezing, the tip of the electrospray emitter was irradiated by a continuous wave infrared laser. RESULTS Without continuous laser irradiation the vacuum electrospray of a water/methanol solution was unstable with respect to the shapes of the Taylor cone and current, whereas continuous laser irradiation produced a stable electrospray of water. The typical modes of electrospray were clearly observed with an optical microscope even under vacuum conditions. A stable vacuum electrospray could be achieved by improving the vacuum pressure to suppress electric discharge and by using the laser to maintain the liquid state. CONCLUSIONS This is the first description of the production of a stable vacuum electrospray of volatile liquids such as water. This vacuum electrospray technique can be expected to produce a novel high-brightness large cluster ion beam source. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this study, we examined the effect of applied electrostatic voltages and the types of electrical charging on jet movement, fiber productivity, fiber diame- ter and deposited configuration by two inverse polarity systems, termed as spinneret and collector charging sys- tems. Jet movement parameters such as Taylor cone, straight jet length, whipping angle, and pitch of whipping loop are examined and compared. The results show that the electronegative collector charging system or the elec- tropositive spinneret charging system is superior to their contrastive system in terms of smaller fiber diameter, com- pact fiber deposited configuration, and higher fiber pro- ductivity. Optimal applied voltage found was 25 kV for electronegative collector charging system and 30 kV for electropositive spinneret charging system and resulted in finest fiber diameter (209 nm for electronegative collector charging system and 247 nm for electropositive spinneret charging system). Polyvinyl acetate solution jet is easier to be ejected, stretched, and accelerated under electropositive charging. The spinning jet with electropositive charges can be achieved either in the spinneret charging system by using electropositive charger or in the collector charging system by using electronegative charger. This finding is an important guideline for the designing of electrospinning device. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 126: E89- E97, 2012

This article demonstrated a new approach for fabrication and sharpening of metal tips of scanning probe microscopes. Experimentally, a metal tip was heated and melted by a focused laser light. The tip was then sharpened by a strong electric field and consolidated as the laser was turned off. With a low-vacuum and a high-voltage source, a 25-µm indium-coated platinum wire was sharpened to a tip with diameters below 50 nm. The minimal tip radius by this method is estimated to be below 1 nm. With this technique, in situ tip sharpening for SPM would be possible.

Bubble-electrospinning is suggested to produce micro/nano fibers. Contrary to classical electrospinning where a high voltage is applied to overcome the surface tension of the Taylor's cone, in bubble-electrospinning, the voltage is applied to overcome the bubble's surface tension, which mainly depends upon the size of the bubble. Instead of single jet, millions of charged jets are observed simultaneously. In this article, we design a single bubble-electrospinning to primarily study the effect of concentration on the spinning procedure. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is used in the experiment. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011

Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) process has received more research attention in recent years due to its potential to generate monodisperse droplets of low electric conductivity. It is reported that the EHDA process can be fine-tuned by adjusting the electrical field strength by an additional ring electrode near the nozzle tip to control both the spray mode and the droplet size. In the present study, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD)-based front tracking/finite volume method has been used to investigate numerically the effect of the secondary electric field source and the ring electrode on the EHDA process. The full Navier–Stokes equations are solved for both the liquid phase and the ambient air near the nozzle tip, and the liquid–air interface is monitored using a front tracking approach. At the interface, both the surface tension and the electrical stress due to surface charging and the applied electric field are taken into account. Because of the large dimension difference between the Taylor cone and the liquid jet, the simulations involve two drastically different length scales for describing the dynamic of the entire process. To accurately include the effect of the ring electrode, the electrical field distribution is first calculated over a domain large enough to enclose all key components of the EHDA process. Subsequently, the calculated electrical field in the large domain is integrated with the detailed CFD analysis on a small domain near the region of the nozzle tip. The formations of the Taylor cone, liquid jet, and droplets are successfully simulated and compared with experimental results with reasonable agreement. The numerical simulation method proposed in this article can be used as a platform for the investigation, analysis, and optimization of electrohydrodynamic atomization process. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2011

A novel multi-compound electrospinning method is described, using high-conductivity aqueous solutions for the inner fluid and low-conductivity polymeric solutions for the outer fluids. The driving fluid among inner fluids at the equivalent conductivity is switched at a certain frequency. The switching of the Taylor cone results in the alternative embedding of inner components. Also, the number of inner capillaries is proportional to the encapsulation components. Therefore, our method might be useful to alternatively encapsulate a variety of water-soluble materials in fibers.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) was electrospun using different methods to charge the polymer solution. A positive high voltage relative to the collecting electrode significantly increased the fibre deposition rate. Electron microscopy showed that approximately half of the increase in fibre mass was due to thicker fibres being deposited. The current flowing from the grounded electrode was measured to determine the charge carried on the PVOH jet. This showed that for a positive voltage charging condition there is a much larger current and hence more charge carriers generated in the PVOH solution. As a result, more mass is ejected from the Taylor cone, implying that a positive voltage also produces longer fibre for a given time period. We also tested whether different substrate materials caused any variation when the charging conditions were changed. Statistically significant variation between substrates was only found when the substrate was an insulator and was expected to support a high deposition rate. This confirms the view that the PVOH fibre arrives at the collecting electrode carrying a charge that must be neutralized, otherwise a repulsive charge will form where the fibre is deposited and some fibre will be lost to any alternative earth. In electrospraying, charge carriers are generated using associated redox reactions. Thus, for electrospinning a lack of symmetry in these reactions may result in the generation of different quantities of charge carriers in the PVOH solution and changes in the mass deposition rate of electrospun fibre.

We report a new method for fabricating nanospray ionization tips for MS, formed from glass substrates and the inert polymer, parylene-C. Using a single photolithography step, the emitters are formed contiguously with microchannels, such that no dead volumes are observed. In addition, because the devices are very thin (approximately 0.3 mm) and the tips are formed at rectangular corners, the Taylor cone volumes are small, which makes the method attractive for future integration with microfluidic separations. Device performance was demonstrated by evaluating diverse analytes, ranging from synthetic polymers, to peptides, to nucleic acids. For all analytes, performance was similar to that of conventional emitters (pulled-glass capillaries and the Agilent HPLC Chip) with the advantage of rapid, batch fabrication of identical devices.

Electrospinning is a flexible and efficient method for producing nanofibers by using relatively dilute polymer solution. However, there are many parameters related to material and processing that influence the morphology and property of the nanofibers. This study investigates the influence of electric field and flow rate on diameter and tensile properties of nanofibers produced using polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. Stability of the spinning jet is investigated via fiber current measurement and an image system at different electric fields and solution flow rates. It is observed that a set of electric field and flow rate conditions favor producing thinnest, strongest, and toughest nanofibers during electrospinning process. Other conditions may lead to instability of the Taylor cone, discontinuous jet, larger diameter fiber, and lower mechanical properties. Finally, a simple dynamic whipping model is adopted to correlate the nanofiber diameter with volumetric charge density and is found to be excellent validating our experimental results. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41918.

The work presents the design of an integrated system consisting of a high-pressure electroosmotic (EO) micropump and a microporous monolithic emitter, which together generate a stable and robust electrospray. Both the micropump and electrospray emitter are fabricated using a sol-gel process. Upon application of an electric potential of sufficient amplitude (>2 kV), the pump delivers fluids with an electroosmotically induced high pressure (>1 atm). The same potential is also harnessed to electrostatically generate a stable electrospray at the porous emitter. Electrokinetic coupling between pump and spray produces spray features different from sprays pressurized by independent mechanical pumps. Four typical spray modes, each with different drop sizes and charge-to-mass ratios, are observed and have been characterized. Since the monolith is silica-based, this integrated device can be used for a variety of fluids, especially organic solvents, without the swelling and shrinking problems that are commonly encountered for polymer monoliths. The maximum pressure generated by a 100 microm id monolithic pump is 3 atm at an applied voltage of 5 kV. The flow rate can be adjusted in the range of 100 nL/min to 1 microL/min by changing the voltage. For a given applied voltage across the pump and emitter system, it is seen that there exists one unique flow rate for which flow balance is achieved between the delivery of liquid to the emitter by the pump and the liquid ejection from the emitter. Under such a condition, a stable Taylor cone is obtained. The principles that lead to these results are also discussed.

Two-dimensional axisymmetric flow of a viscous, incompressible liquid metal with a free boundary subject to the action of an electric field is investigated in the context of liquid metal ion source operation. It is established that an almost flat surface evolves with time into a cone-like shape, with the cone angle equal to Taylor's static value of 98.6°. The growth time of the Taylor cone and the time-dependent behaviour of basic physical quantities (electric field strength, fluid velocity and surface curvature) near the cone apex are studied. A possible physical explanation of the effect of globule formation on the supporting needle of the liquid metal ion source has been put forward. The simulation is based on the method of adaptive numerical grid generation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The physical processes underlying micro-electrospray (micro-ES) performance were investigated using a stainless steel (SS) emitter with a blunt tip. Sheathless micro-ES could be generated at a blunt SS tip without any tapering or sanding if ESI conditions were optimized. The Taylor cone was found to shrink around the inner diameter of the SS tubing, which permitted a low flow rate of 150 nL/min for sheathless microspray on the blunt tip (100 μm i.d. × 400 μm o.d.). It is believed that the wettability and/or hydrophobicity of SS tips are responsible for their micro-ES performance. The outlet orifice was further nipped to reduce the size of the spray cone and limit the flow rate to 50–150 nL/min, resulting in peptide detection down to attomole quantities consumed per spectrum. The SS emitter was also integrated into a polymethylmethacrylate microchip and demonstrated satisfactory performance in the analysis and identification of a myoglobin digest. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Experimental and numerical work was performed to further the understanding of an electrostatic liquid film radiator (ELFR) that was originally proposed by Kim et al.(1) The ELFR design utilizes an electric field that exerts a normal force on the interface of a flowing film. The field lowers the pressure under the film in a space radiator and, thereby, prevents leakage through a puncture in the radiator wall. The flowing film is subject to the Taylor cone instability, whereby a cone of fluid forms underneath an electrode and sharpens until a jet of fluid is pulled toward the electrode and disintegrates into droplets. The critical potential for the instability is shown to be as much as an order of magnitude higher than that used in previous designs.(2) Furthermore, leak stoppage experiments indicate that the critical field is adequate to stop leaks in a working radiator.

The current studies on pulsation phenomena in electrospray ionization, and pulsed electrospray ionization (ESI) under external electrical control are reviewed. A number of investigations have shown that two types of pulsation processes exist: low-frequency fluctuation and high-frequency droplet-formation. The low-frequency pulsation is induced by an imbalance between the flow rate of the input sample to the Taylor cone and the feed rate of the output solution to the liquid filament. The high-frequency pulsation mainly results from the initial droplet formation process, and is modulated by the low-frequency pulsation. The fundamental and experimental sections of these two pulsations are discussed. Experimental results also show that low and high pulsations can both be controlled electrically to create a pulsed ESI so that high sensitivity and an enhanced S/N ratio can be achieved. However, the co-ordination of the synchronization between a natural pulsation and a pulsed ESI, as well as its application to mass spectrometer (MS) analysis, demands further research.

A new melt electrospinning system equipped with a line-like laser beam melting device developed for the mass production of nanofibers is introduced; this system enables fibers to be produced from locally melted polymer sheets in the presence of an electric field. Using this system, fibers were produced from poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)(EVOH) and Nylon 6/12 sheets. The fiber formation mechanism was investigated with a video camera and a thermographic camera. It was found that (1) many Taylor cones are formed on the molten end surface of the sheet at almost regular intervals; (2) a single fiber is produced from the apex of each Taylor cone; and (3) the temperature in the Taylor cone changes markedly during the fiber production. Furthermore, it is found that fibers with an average diameter smaller than 1 μm can be produced from EVOH and Nylon 6/12 sheets by the optimization of manufacturing parameters such as laser output power, voltage, sheet thickness and the feed rate of the sheet. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010