Apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6616435
  • Patent Number
    6,616,435
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, April 3, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 9, 2003
    20 years ago
Abstract
The present invention relates to an apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process and manufacturing method thereof, which can manufacture porous polymer web using an electrospinning method. The method for manufacturing porous polymer web by electrospinning process includes the steps of: forming, pressurizing and supplying at least one or more kinds of polymer materials in a liquid state; and discharging and piling the polymer materials to a collector through one or more charged nozzles, the collector being located under the nozzles and charged to have a polarity opposed to the polarity of the charged nozzles, the collector moving in a prescribed speed.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process and manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to an apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process and manufacturing method thereof, which can manufacture porous polymer web using an electrospinning method.




2. Description of the Related Art




In conventional fiber manufacturing skills, i.e., melt spinning, wet spinning, dry spinning and dry-jet wet spinning, fibers are manufactured by mechanically extruding and discharging a polymer melt or a polymer solution through nozzles and coagulating or solidifying it.




The fibers having several to several tens μm diameter can be manufactured, using the conventional process. Presently, ultra-fine threaded fibers of sub-micron to several μm diameters can be manufactured with only special polymers and manufactured by a very complex and restricted process using a method of dissolving a portion of the fibers.




Recently, it has been reported that an electrospinning process can adapt various kinds of polymers, such as polymer melt, polymer solution or the likes and manufacture fiber of several nanometer diameter.




Such fiber of small diameter is very high in a ratio of surface area to volume in comparison with the conventional fiber, makes the manufacture of film of high porosity possible, and can provide a new physical property not shown in the conventional products.




As the related report, “Electrospinning process and applications of electrospun fibers (J. Electrostatics, 35, 151-160 (1995)) by Doshi and Reneker is disclosed. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,913 by Frank, it is disclosed that very fine fiber of 4 Ř1 nm can be manufactured by combining the electrospinning process and an air vortex spinning technique. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,590, it is disclosed that biodegradable silk of 2 to 2000 nm diameter can be manufactured by using the electrospinning process.




Moreover, the electrospinning process is very simple, compared with the conventional methods, because directly manufacturing polymer web in a liquid state.




As polymers capable of being used in the electrospinning process, there are poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF), poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene), polyacrylonitrile, poly(acrylonitrile-co-methacrylate), polymethylmetha crylate, polyvinylchloride, poly(vinylidenechloride-co-acrylate), polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon series such as nylon12 and nylon-4,6, aramid, polybenzimidazole, polyvinylalcohol, cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butylate, polyvinyl pyrrolidone-vinyl acetates, poly(bis-(2-methoxy-ethoxyethoxy)) phosphazene(MEEP), poly(ethylene imide) (PEI), poly(ethylene succinate), poly(ethylene sulphide), poly(oxymethylene-oligo-oxyethylene), poly(propyleneoxide), poly(vinyl acetate), polyaniline, poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(hydroxy butyrate), poly(ethylene oxide), SBS copolymer, poly(lacticacid), polypeptide, biopolymer such as protein, pitch series such as coal-tar pitch and petroleum pitch. Copolymers and blends of the above polymers may be used. Also, it is possible to use blends in which emulsions or organic or inorganic powders are blended in the above polymers.




However, the electrospinning process largely depends on the intensity of electric charge, differently from the conventional similar processes, such as electric coating, discharging by adding the intensity of electric charge to external physical power. Thus, it is very important that many nozzles are concentrated and used in a small area and each nozzle is controlled precisely to manufacture web made of fiber of fine diameter because one nozzle is restricted in increasing a discharge amount and productivity.




Especially, it is very important to concentrate several capillary nozzles on one spinning pack and discharge in large quantities. If the nozzles are simply arranged and used, since fibrous polymer stream discharged from each nozzle have electric charge, the fibrous polymer streams push to each other by a mutual interference and get out of an area of a collector. Furthermore, the nozzles perform non-uniform discharge because of different environments of capillary nozzles, and thereby it is difficult to manufacture a film of a uniform thickness.




Many reports of action of organic solution having electric charge have been known, but the electrospinning process using the polymers began to develop recently. Although the porous polymer web manufactured by the electrospinning method have various merits as described above, techniques to manufacture the polymer web in a high speed and large quantities have not been developed.




Especially, devices of a laboratory scale using one needle for experimentation can be easily constructed, and thereby it is possible to manufacture in a small quantity. However, for common use, mass production must be realized.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process and manufacturing method thereof, which can manufacture porous polymer web having a high porosity and an excellent productivity by the way of an electrospinning process by polymers solutions or melts.




To achieve the object, the present invention provides an apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process including: a barrel storing at least one or more kinds of polymer materials in a liquid state; a pump pressurizing and supplying the polymer materials of the liquid state stored in the barrel; a spinning part for injecting the polymer materials of the liquid state supplied by the pump through at least one or more charged nozzles and manufacturing thin fibers; a first high voltage generator providing electric charge for charging the polymer materials discharged through the nozzles of the spinning part to have one polarity; and a collector for piling and transferring the thin fibers to form the polymer web, the fibers being charged to have a polarity opposed to the polarity of the spinning part and discharged by the nozzles.




In another aspect, to achieve the object, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing polymer web by electrospinning process including the steps of: making, pressurizing and supplying at least one or more kinds of polymer materials in a liquid state; and discharging and piling the polymer materials to a collector through one or more charged nozzles, the collector being located under the nozzles and charged to have a polarity opposed to the polarity of the charged nozzles, the collector moving in a prescribed speed.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:





FIG. 1



a


is a view illustrating a structure of an electrospinning device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 1



b


is a view illustrating a structure of an electrospinning device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIGS. 2



a


and


2




b


are views illustrating a structure of a spinning pack of the electrospinning device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIGS. 3



a


and


3




b


are views illustrating a structure of a spinning pack of the electrospinning device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; and





FIGS. 4



a


to


4




d


are exemplary views for showing various forms of a nozzle of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.




As shown in

FIG. 1



a


,


1




b


and


3




a


, a polymer web manufacturing device by an electrospinning process according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a barrel


10


in which polymer materials are stored in a liquid state, a pump


12


pressurizing and supplying the polymer materials in the barrel


10


to spinning part


20


, a spinning part


20


for manufacturing the polymer materials supplied by the pump


12


into fibers of a fine diameter, a collector


50


for piling the fibers spun in the spinning part


20


in an appropriate thickness and transferring it, and a high voltage generator


40


for supplying electric charge required during a spinning process of the spinning part


20


.




The barrel


10


stores polymers dissolved by the solvent or melted polymer materials of at least one or more kinds. The polymer materials may be used in a state that various kinds of polymer materials are blended in one barrel or in a state that each polymer material is stored in each barrel.




In this embodiment according to the present invention, only one barrel


10


is illustrated but the barrel


10


may be used in the plural number.




The pump


12


is to pressurize and supply the polymer materials stored in the barrel


10


in the liquid state. If output of the pump


12


is adjusted, a spinning speed of the spinning part


20


can be adjusted.




The spinning part


20


has a unitary nozzle type


32


shown in

FIGS. 2



a


and


2




b


and a multi-nozzle type


33


shown in

FIGS. 3



a


and


3




b


. The present invention will be described on the basis of the unitary nozzle type.




A base conductor board


26


, which has a conductive part capable of transferring electric charge, is attached on a lower surface of a base


24


having an inlet pipe


22


receiving the polymer materials of the liquid state from the pump


12


. The base conductor board


26


has a plurality of nozzle taps


34


projected at a lower surface thereof to mount the unitary nozzle


32


.




Therefore, the base


24


, the base conductor board


26


and the nozzle tap


34


respectively have a path for passing the polymer materials of the liquid state. Each path must have a structure allowing the polymer materials of the liquid state pressurized by the pump


12


to act on the nozzle taps


34


in the same pressure.




The nozzle tap


34


has only one injection hole, and the unitary nozzle


32


discharging the polymer materials of the liquid state is mounted in the injection hole. The unitary nozzle


32


is mounted at the center of the nozzle tap


34


as shown in

FIG. 2



b.






Here, a conductor board


30


for distributing charges is attached on the lower portion of the charge distribution board


28


in the same shape as the charge distribution board


28


.




Voltages of the same polarity are applied to the base conductor board


26


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


and outputted by the high voltage generator


40


.




The high voltage generator


40


outputs DC voltage of a range of 5 kV to 50 kV and has an anode output terminal connected to the conductor board


30


of the base conductor board


26


and a cathode output terminal is grounded.




For the nozzles


31


, there are an unitary nozzle


32


shown in

FIG. 2



b


and a multi-nozzle


33


having a plurality of discharge holes like a second embodiment of the spinning part


20


shown in

FIGS. 3



a


and


3




b.






The multi-nozzle


33


has a plurality of needles


33




a


arranged in a radial manner to minimize an electric interference between the nozzles


31


. The needles of the multi-nozzle are arranged in intervals of 1 mm or more.




The charge distribution board


28


is induced to minimize the electric interference between the multi-nozzles


33


.




The charge distribution board


28


can make the surroundings of the nozzles


31


equal. At this time, the conductor board


30


, which is made of a conductor such as a metal, is attached on the charge distribution board


28


, and the charge distribution board


28


has a hole larger than the nozzles


31


, in which the nozzles


31


are inserted.




The conductor board


30


is located somewhat away from an end of the nozzles


31


, i.e., from a terminal where the polymers are discharged, and it is preferable to keep the interval between the conductor board


30


and an end of nozzle


31


of 5 mm or more. Furthermore, it is preferable that a ratio of the length and the external diameter of the needles


32




a


and


33




a


of the nozzles


31


is more than 10, and more preferably, more than 20.




A second preferred embodiment of the spinning part


20


has the same structure as the first preferred embodiment, besides the structure of the nozzles (therefore, like reference numbers designate like components in

FIGS. 2



a


,


2




b


,


3




a


and


3




b


showing the first and second embodiments).




The multi-nozzle


33


of the second preferred embodiment of the spinning part has the plural nozzles


33




a


arranged on the round nozzle taps


34


in equal distances and intervals from the center of the nozzle taps


34


.




As shown in

FIGS. 4



a


to


4




d


, the spinning part


20


has various types of nozzle alignment structures. It will be described hereinafter.




In

FIG. 4



a


, the base


24


, the base conductor board


26


and the charge distribution board


28


are in the form of a round, and the plural nozzles


31


are aligned in equal distances and intervals from the center of the round.




Here, the nozzles


31


may adapt the structure of the unitary nozzle


32


or the multi-nozzle


33


, and cases of

FIGS. 4



b


to


4




d


to be described later are also the same.




In

FIG. 4



b


, the base


24


, the base conductor board


26


and the charge distribution board


28


are in the form of a rectangle, and the plural nozzles


31


are aligned in an arc shape in equal intervals on the basis of a longitudinal line.




In

FIG. 4



c


, the base


24


, the base conductor board


26


and the charge distribution board


28


are in the form of a rectangle, the center of the plural nozzles


31


are located at intersecting points of consecutive triangles, and this structure makes the density of the aligned nozzles


31


high.




In

FIG. 4



d


, the base


24


, the base conductor board


26


and the charge distribution board


28


are in the form of a rectangle, and the center of the plural nozzles


31


are located at intersecting points of consecutive squares.




As shown in

FIG. 1



a


, the method for charging the spinning part


20


and the collector


50


according the present invention uses one high voltage generator


40


. The high voltage generator


40


has anodes connected to the base conductor board


26


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


for charging the polymer fibers discharged through the nozzles


31


into the anode and a cathode connected to the collector


50


and grounded.




In another embodiment, as shown in

FIG. 1



b


, first and second high voltage generators


40


and


45


are used. The cathode outputs of the first high voltage generator


40


are connected to the base conductor board


26


of the spinning part


20


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


and charge the polymer fibers discharged through the nozzles


31


into the cathode. A ground terminal of the first high voltage generator


40


is grounded.




To more effectively accumulate the polymer fibers on the collector


50


, charge opposed to the charge of the nozzles


31


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


may be applied to the collector


50


.




For this, an anode output of the second high voltage generator


45


is connected to the collector


50


, a ground terminal of the second high voltage generator


45


is grounded, and the output voltage is about −5 kV to −50 kV.




In the result, the same charge is applied to the nozzles


31


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


through the high voltage generator


40


. At this time, the same poles, i.e., positive pole (+) and positive pole (+) or negative pole (−) and negative pole (−), are used, however, the present invention is not restricted in use of the same high voltage generators.




Therefore, +DC voltage is applied to the base conductor board


26


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


and −DC voltage is applied to the collector


50


, and thereby the charges having opposite polarities to each other cause an attractive force to pile the polymer fibers discharged through the nozzles


31


on an upper surface of the collector


50


stably.




That is, because the surroundings of the nozzles


31


has the same environment and the nozzles


31


have a charge condition repelling from the upper portion to the lower portion of the needles


32




a


and


33




a


, the discharged polymer fibers are accumulated on the collector


50


in a small area and in the shortest path.




Meanwhile, a user can adjust a distance (D) between the spinning part


20


and the collector


50


to pile the polymer fibers on the upper surface of the collector


50


in the optimum state.




The collector


50


uses web made of metal or plates made of metal and is in the form of a conveyer belt operated by a roller


52


to transfer the polymer web piled on the upper surface thereof in one direction.




Using the polymer web manufacturing device by electrospinning process, a method for manufacturing the polymer web will be described hereinafter.




The polymer materials stored in the barrel


10


in the liquid state are pressurized and supplied by the pump


12


. The pressurized polymer materials of the liquid state is pushed through the inlet pipe


22


and through fine holes of the nozzles


31


of the spinning part


20


, and at the same time, if electric field is applied, polymer solution or polymer melt is discharged from the nozzle


31


by electric force, and thereby the polymer web is formed on the surface of the collector


50


located under the nozzles


31


in a prescribed distance.




The polymer web has a form that the fibers of several nanometer to several tens nanometer diameter are piled in three-dimensional network structure.




Because the polymer web has the fiber diameter of nanometer unit, a surface area per unit volume is very high. Therefore, the polymer web manufactured according to the present invention has very large porosity and surface area, compared with the polymer web manufactured by the conventional methods.




Because the polymer materials are directly manufactured from the liquid state to a solid state into the form of the polymer web having a microscopic fibrousness structure, the present invention has very simple device and manufacturing process and a very high economical efficiency due to reducing the manufacturing period of time.




Moreover, the present invention can manufacture porous polymer web having various forms and thickness according to the need because the diameter of the fibrousness (several nanometer to several tens nanometer), the thickness of the film (several μm to several tens μm) and the size of a pore can be easily adjusted by changing manufacturing conditions.




If the electrospinning process is used, the process is simplified and the fibers of several nanometer to several tens nanometer diameter is piled in a multi-dimensional structure, thereby showing an excellent mechanical and physical property, compared with the film manufactured by a method of casting a solvent having equal pores.




The manufacturing method of the porous polymer web will be described in more detail hereinafter.




The polymers are dissolved in the solvent or made into the polymer melt. The liquid type polymers are inserted into the barrel


10


. Voltage of 5 kV to 50 kV is applied to the nozzles


31


of the spinning part


20


and the polymers are discharged on the collector


50


in a prescribed speed to manufacture the high porous polymer web.




The thickness of the porous polymer web can be adjusted by changing the process conditions such like the applied electric force, the deposition time on collector, the discharge speed (i.e., change of the discharge speed using the change of virtual pressure of the pump). As the electrospinning method, there are a porous polymer web manufacturing method including the steps of inserting various polymer materials into one barrel


10


, spinning with one or more nozzles


31


and blending the polymers completely, and a high porous polymer web manufacturing method including the steps of inserting various polymer materials into each barrel


10


and spinning the polymers through the nozzles


31


at the same time to make the polymer fibers be entangled with each other.




To manufacture the high porous polymer web, it is preferable to use one or more nozzles


31


. Here, if the nozzles


31


are simply arranged and used, since the polymers of fibrousness discharged from each nozzles


31


have electric charge, the polymers push to each other by a mutual interference and get out of an area of the collector


50


. Furthermore, the nozzles


31


perform the non-uniform discharge because of different environments of capillary nozzles


31


, and thereby it is difficult to manufacture a film of a uniform thickness.




Therefore, to improve the productivity and the quality of the polymer web, it is necessary to increase a dense degree of the nozzles


31


, to make the charge condition of the nozzles


31


equal and to minimize a movement path of the polymers of fibrousness discharged through the nozzles


31


.




The method for manufacturing polymer web by electrospinning process will be described through embodiments having different conditions.




Embodiment 1




80 g dimethylacetamide and 20 g polyvinylidene fluoride (Atochem, Kynar 761) were mixed and agitated at 70° C. for 24 hours to obtain transparent polymer solution.




The polymer solution was inserted into the barrel


10


, voltage of 8 kV to 12 kV was applied to the forty two unitary nozzles


32


, each of which has one needle


32




a


, and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


, and the collector


50


was grounded.




A distance between the end of the needle


32




a


of the unitary nozzle


32


and the charge distribution board


28


was 1.0 cm and a distance (D) between the end of the needle


32




a


and the collector


50


was 8 cm.




At this time, the collector


50


did use web made of metal, and the movement speed of the web was 10 m/min. A thickness of the manufactured porous polymer web was measured with micrometer and the result is shown in a table 1.














TABLE 1










Polymer discharge




Thickness of






Applied




speed of needle




accumulated film






voltage (kV)




(μl/min)




(μm)

























8




160




25






9




170




33






10




180




37






12




200




48














Embodiment 2




80 g acetone and 20 g polyvinylidene fluoride (Atochem, Kynar 761) were mixed and agitated at 70° C. for 24 hours to obtain transparent polymer solution.




The polymer solution was inserted into the barrel


10


, voltage of 8 kV to 12 kV was applied to the five multi-nozzles


33


, each of which has twelve needles


33




a


, and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


, and the collector


50


was grounded.




A distance between the end of the needle


32




a


of the multi-nozzle


33


and the charge distribution board


28


was 1.2 cm and a distance (D) between the end of the needle


33




a


of the multi-nozzle


33


and the collector


50


was 14 cm.




At this time, the collector


50


did use web made of metal, and the movement speed of the web was 15 m/min. A thickness of the manufactured porous polymer web was measured with micrometer and the result is shown in a table 2.














TABLE 2










Polymer discharge




Thickness of






Applied




speed of needle




accumulated film






voltage (kV)




(μl/min)




(μm)

























8




160




51






9




170




60






10




180




72






12




200




79














Embodiment 3




80 g dimethylacetamide and 20 g polyacrylonitrile (PolyScience Co.) were mixed and agitated at 70° C. for 24 hours to obtain transparent polymer solution.




The polymer solution was inserted into the barrel


10


, voltage of 8 kV to 16 kV was applied to the two multi-nozzles


33


, each of which has four needles


33




a


, and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


, and the collector


50


was grounded.




A distance between the end of the needle


32




a


of the multi-nozzle


33


and the charge distribution board


28


was 1.6 cm and a distance (D) between the end of the needle


33




a


of the multi-nozzle


33


and the collector


50


was 15 cm.




At this time, the collector


50


did use web made of metal, and the movement speed of the web was 3 m/min. A thickness of the manufactured porous polymer web was measured with micrometer and the result is shown in a table 3.














TABLE 3










Polymer discharge




Thickness of






Applied




speed of needle




accumulated film






voltage (kV)




(μl/min)




(μm)

























3




140




24






10




160




32






14




180




41






16




220




50














Embodiment 4




80 g acetone and 20 g polyvinylidene fluoride (Atochem, Kynar 761) were stirred and dissolved (A solution). 80 g dimethylacetamide, 10 g polyvinylidene fluoride (Atochem, Kynar 761) and 10 g polyacrylonitrile (Polyscience, molecular weight of 150,000) were mixed and agitated at 70° C. for 24 hours to obtain transparent polymer solution (B solution). Dimethylacetamide of 83 g and polyacrylonitrile of 17 g were mixed to obtain transparent solution (C solution).




The A, B and C solutions were inserted into the three barrel


10


, the each polymer solution was inserted into three multi-nozzles


33


respectively, each of which has twenty two needles


33




a


, voltage of 10 kV to 16 kV was applied to the multi-nozzles


33


and the conductor board


30


of the charge distribution board


28


, and the collector


50


was grounded. multi-nozzle


33


and the charge distribution board


28


was 1.4 cm and a distance (D) between the end of the needle


33




a


of the multi-nozzle


33


and the collector


50


was 10 cm.




The collector


50


did use web made of metal, and the movement speed of the web was 3 m/min. A thickness of the manufactured porous polymer web was measured with micrometer and the result is shown in a table 4.














TABLE 4










Polymer discharge




Thickness of






Applied




speed of needle




accumulated film






voltage (kV)




(μl/min)




(μm)











10




140




63






12




160




70






14




180




79






16




220




85














As described above, according to the present invention, the porous polymer web can be manufactured in a high speed by using the electrospinning process. The manufactured porous polymer web may be used for the purpose of a separator of a secondary batteries, a polymer electrolyte membranes, a separator of a fuel cell, a filter, and dressing for medical treatment.




While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. An apparatus of polymer web by electrospinning process, the apparatus comprising:a barrel storing at least one or more kinds of polymer materials in a liquid state; a pump pressurizing and supplying the polymer materials of the liquid state stored in the barrel; a spinning part for injecting the polymer materials of the liquid state supplied by the pump through at least one or more charged nozzles and manufacturing thin fibers, the spinning part further comprising: a base having an inlet pipe formed at the center and a path for passing the polymer materials of the liquid state within, the inlet pipe receiving the polymer materials of the liquid state from the pump; a base conductor board attached on a lower surface of the base and having a conductive plate for transferring electric charge, the base conductor board having a plurality of nozzle taps for mounting the nozzles at a lower surface thereof; at least one or more nozzles mounted on the nozzle taps formed on the base conductor board for discharging the polymer material; a charge distribution board mounted on a lower portion of the base conductor board, the charge distribution board having a plurality of holes formed at the positions, where the nozzles are mounted, for passing the nozzles; and a conductor board mounted on a lower portion of the charge distribution board for charge distribution; a first high voltage generator providing electric charge for charging the polymer materials discharged through the at least one or more nozzles of the spinning part to have one polarity; and a collector for piling and transferring the thin fibers to form the polymer web, the collector being charged to have a polarity opposed to the polarity of the spinning part and to the charged fibers discharged by the nozzles.
  • 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pump controls a discharged amount of the polymer materials discharged through the nozzles.
  • 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one or more nozzles is either a unitary nozzle, which has a needle discharging the polymer materials of the liquid state, or a multi-nozzle, which has a plurality of needles.
  • 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one or more nozzles is a multi-nozzle, and the needles of the multi-nozzle are arranged in intervals of at least 1 mm.
  • 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein each needle has a ratio of a length to an external diameter which is at least 10.
  • 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collector is in a web structure of conductive materials or a plate structure of the conductive materials.
  • 7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collector is in a conveyor belt for transferring the polymer web piled on the upper portion thereof in one direction.
  • 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collector further includes a second high voltage generator for supplying electric charge of polarity opposed to the polarity of the spinning part.
  • 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the charge distribution board is located upwardly at a distance of at least 5 mm from an end of the at least one or more nozzles discharging the polymer materials.
  • 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein output voltage of the first and second high voltage generators is DC voltage having an absolute value of 1 kV to 50 kV.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2000-80518 Dec 2000 KR
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Number Name Date Kind
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6106913 Scardino et al. Aug 2000 A
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Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry
Jayesh Doshi & Darrell H. Reneker, Electrospinning Process and Applications of Electrospun Fibers, Journal of Electrostatics, 1995, pp. 151-160.