Creating defined electrospun fiber geometries
View Patent ↗An object is built by depositing a mat on a build surface and utilizing a manufacturing process to position a structure over at least a portion of the mat to define an object. The object is removed from the build surface such that a first portion of the mat removed with the object is bonded to the structure, and a second portion of the mat removed with the object is unsupported by the structure. Alternatively, an object can be built by printing a conductive material over a surface to define a structure and utilizing the conductive material as a collector to control an electric field deposition over the structure to define an object where a first portion of the deposition is bonded to the structure and a second portion of the deposition is unsupported by the structure.
1 . A process for creating an object, comprising:
depositing a mat on a substrate, the depositing comprising at least one of:
forming a fiber mat by at least one of electrospinning at least one fiber, or melt blowing at least one fiber; or
electrohydrodynamic spraying a membrane layer to define the mat as a membrane mat;
using a controller to perform a fused deposition modeling process to print a frame by positioning a structure over at least a portion of the mat to define an object that comprises at least a portion of the mat being suspended between members of the frame; and
removing the object such that a first portion of the mat removed with the object is bonded to the structure and a second portion of the mat removed with the object is unsupported by the structure.
2 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising utilizing an additive manufacturing process to deposit the structure over the mat so that the structure bonds with the mat.
3 . The process of claim 1 further comprising:
inverting the object;
repositioning the object on the substrate; and
bonding another section of mat to the object.
4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the object is a fluidic device, a lab-on-chip device or a cell culture device.
5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the fiber mat comprises nanofibers.
6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a build surface.
7 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the step of depositing the mat, additively manufacturing a base support structure to define the substrate such that depositing the mat on the substrate comprises directly depositing the mat onto the base support structure.
8 . The process of claim 7 , wherein the additive manufacturing of the base support structure is performed by an extrusion-based additive manufacturing process.
9 . The process of claim 8 , wherein the extrusion-based additive manufacturing process comprises fused deposition modeling.
10 . The process of claim 8 , wherein the extrusion-based additive manufacturing process comprises an extrude and cure process.
11 . The process of claim 8 , wherein the base support structure defines a bottom surface, a top surface and a plurality of sidewalls extending between the bottom and top surfaces, the top surface defining a channel therein with a fiber mesh spanning thereacross.
12 . The process of claim 11 , wherein the frame extends between the plurality of sidewalls.
13 . The process of claim 12 , wherein the frame forms a top layer that at least partially encloses the void to form a chamber.
14 . The process of claim 7 , wherein the base support structure is formed from a first material and the printed frame is formed from a second material.
15 . The process of claim 14 , wherein, the first material and the second material are made from the same polymeric material.
16 . The process of claim 14 , wherein, the first material and the second material are made from different materials.
17 . The process of claim 7 , wherein depositing the mat comprises electrospinning at least one fiber, and the process further comprises, prior to the electrospinning, additively manufacturing a conductive material onto the base support structure to facilitate the electrospinning of the at least one fiber.