Electrospinning alignment apparatus
Provided is an electrospinning alignment apparatus enabling mass production of nanofiber membranes by simultaneously nanofibers that are spun in alignment in one direction on a transferred carrier and nanofibers that are randomly spun.
1 . An electrospinning alignment apparatus comprising:
a plurality of first electrospinning portions to which a first voltage is applied, for aligning and spinning nanofibers in a first horizontal direction, nanofibers spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions being aligned in said first horizontal direction by a guide portion comprising guide bodies operative to change an electric field;
a plurality of second electrospinning portions to which the first voltage is applied, for randomly spinning the nanofibers, the nanofibers being spun from the plurality of second electrospinning portions in a random manner without being aligned by the guide bodies;
a stage portion to which a second voltage different than the first voltage is applied, spaced apart in a first vertical direction in which the nanofibers are spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions and the plurality of second electrospinning portions; and
a carrier transfer portion for coating the nanofibers spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions and the plurality of second electrospinning portions onto a carrier by continuously passing the carrier between a position where the plurality of first electrospinning portions and the plurality of second electrospinning portions is disposed and a position where the stage portion is disposed,
wherein the plurality of first electrospinning portions is spaced apart from each other in a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction,
wherein the guide bodies include a first guide body and a second guide body extending along the first horizontal direction and spaced apart from each other in the second horizontal direction to sandwich a corresponding one of the plurality of first electrospinning portions, and the first and second guide bodies are operative to change an electric field to align the nanofibers spun from said one of the plurality of first electrospinning portions in the first horizontal direction, and
wherein the first guide body and the second guide body are individually made of a material with a relative dielectric constant of 50 or lower.
2 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first electrospinning portions includes a first spinning nozzle for spinning the nanofibers from a spinning solution.
3 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the first spinning nozzle is disposed under a space between the first guide body and the second guide body.
4 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 3 , wherein at least one of the first and second guide bodies is shared with another one of the plurality of first electrospinning portions.
5 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second electrospinning portions is spaced apart from each other in the second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction, and each of the plurality of second electrospinning portions includes a second spinning nozzle for spinning the nanofibers from a spinning solution.
6 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first electrospinning portions each is disposed by forming m first columns (m is a natural number) including n first spinning nozzles (n is a natural number), and the plurality of second electrospinning portions each is disposed by forming i second columns (i is a natural number) including j second spinning nozzles (j is a natural number),
wherein the m first columns and the i second columns are arranged in an alternating manner.
7 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the n and the j are determined based on a width of the carrier in the second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction.
8 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the production of nanofibers per unit of time is adjusted by adjusting the m, the i, and a transfer rate of the carrier.
9 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the nanofibers spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions is relatively larger than a thickness of nanofibers spun from the plurality of second electrospinning portions.
10 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a size of a space between the nanofibers coated onto the carrier is adjusted by adjusting a difference between a thickness of nanofibers spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions and the thickness of nanofibers spun form the plurality of second electrospinning portions.
11 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first vertical direction in which the nanofibers are spun includes an upward direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction.
12 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the carrier transfer portion transfers the carrier in a roll-to-roll manner while it is being unwound from a roll.
13 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the carrier includes a non-woven fabric.
14 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the nanofibers spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions and the nanofibers spun from the plurality of second electrospinning portions include one or a combination of two of the following: polyacrylonitrile, PVDF-HFP (polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyurethane, polysulfones (polysulfone, polyethersulfone, and polyphenylene sulfone), polyvinyl acetate (PV Ac), polyacrylic acid (PAA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyimide (PI), polystyrene (PS), polycaprolactone (PCL), poly lactic acid (PLA), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and chitosan.
15 . The electrospinning alignment apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a diameter of the nanofibers spun from the plurality of first electrospinning portions ranges from 300 nm to 2,000 nm, and the diameter of the nanofibers spun from the second electrospinning portion ranges from 10 nm to 300 nm.