Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
Electrospinning is a lab technique that uses a high electric field to draw a polymer solution (or melt) into a thin jet that dries or cools into fibers, usually collected as a non-woven mat. Typical fiber diameters run from tens of nanometers to a few micrometers (Nanoscience Instruments, technical page, read 2026-11-08). This guide is general technical information for researchers and lab staff, not a protocol or safety instruction; follow your institution’s approved procedures.
What is electrospinning?
Electrospinning is a voltage-driven fiber-forming process. A liquid is fed to an emitter held at high voltage; the charged liquid is pulled toward a collector, the solvent evaporates in flight, and solid fibers land on the collector as a mat. It is distinct from electrospraying, where the same kind of set-up yields droplets or particles rather than continuous fibers. A variant, melt electrospinning, avoids solvents by using a molten polymer (Wikipedia, Electrospinning, read 2026-11-08, used for general context only).
How does electrospinning work?
A basic electrospinning machine has four parts, as described by Nanoscience Instruments:
- Liquid feed: a syringe pump or pressurised reservoir that delivers the solution.
- High-voltage source: voltages up to +50 kV are used in the technique.
- Emitter: usually a blunt capillary needle; single, coaxial (core-shell or Janus) and multi-axial versions exist. Needle gauges of 14 to 26 Ga are typical.
- Collector: a flat plate, rotating drum, mandrel, disk or roll-to-roll system.
Four groups of parameters decide the result: the solution (viscosity, conductivity, surface tension, solvent, solids content), the electrical settings, the geometry and motion (distance, collector rotation), and the environment (temperature, relative humidity, airflow).
Which settings change the fibers? A parameter-to-effect table
Every row below is stated in the Nanoscience Instruments technical page (read 2026-11-08). The source notes that effects are not always consistent between studies.
| Parameter | Reported effect |
|---|---|
| Solution viscosity | High viscosity encourages polymer chain entanglement and fiber formation; low viscosity lets the jet break up into particles instead of fibers. |
| Solids concentration | Higher concentration generally gives larger fiber diameter. |
| Solution conductivity | Higher conductivity tends to give bead-free fibers. |
| Needle voltage | Higher positive voltage typically improves stretching and so tends toward thinner fibers, though some studies saw the opposite or no effect. |
| Needle-to-collector distance | A shorter distance means less travel time but risks wet fibers. |
| Collector linear speed | High speeds typically give aligned fibers; low speeds give randomly oriented fibers. |
| Relative humidity | Low humidity can clog the needle; high humidity can leave water droplets on the fiber surface and give porous fibers. |
| Temperature | Higher temperature lowers viscosity and allows smaller fibers. |
Can you give an example of a nanofiber?
A nanofiber is defined here by its recipe as much as its material. Nanoscience Instruments’ example gallery lists these polymer and solvent pairs: polycaprolactone (PCL) in hexafluoroisopropanol (HFP), acetic acid or dichloromethane; polylactic acid (PLA) in HFP; polybutylene succinate (PBS) in HFP; and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in dimethylacetamide (DMAc). Other polymers named on the same page include gelatin, collagen, silk fibroin, chitosan, cellulose acetate, nylon 6,6 and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Note that several of these solvents are volatile organic liquids, which matters for the safety section below.
What is electrospinning used for?
The same technical page lists tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound care, food encapsulation, energy storage, and air and water filtration as application areas.
What are the downsides of electrospinning?
A review of scale-up for pharmaceutical and biomedical products (Omer et al., Pharmaceutics 2021, 13(2):286, PubMed Central PMC7927019, read 2026-11-08) supports this checklist:
- Low throughput: single-needle lab set-ups have “a rather low (0.01-2 g/h) productivity”.
- Scale-up is not a simple multiplication: reported needleless or multi-orifice systems reached figures such as 8.6 g/h (PVA, rotating cylinder), 13.7 g/h (mushroom spinneret) and, in one itraconazole case, up to 450 g/h, but raising the flow rate for throughput can cause beads and larger diameters.
- Solvent hazards: scale-up raises safety and environmental issues from organic solvents, and residual solvent in the product can be toxic.
- Composition drift: needleless set-ups lose volatile solvent quickly, so the solution concentration shifts during a run.
- Material limits: harsh solvents may damage bioactive ingredients.
- Environmental sensitivity: humidity, temperature and airflow all affect evaporation and needle clogging (Nanoscience Instruments).
How much does an electrospinning machine cost?
The sources used for this guide give no prices, so none are stated here. What the sources do show is what makes one machine differ from another: the emitter type (single, coaxial, multi-axial, multi-needle or needleless), the collector (plate, drum, mandrel, roll-to-roll), the feed system, and whether the environment (humidity, temperature, airflow) is controlled.
Lab safety and handling checklist
The technique combines two hazard sources that the sources document: kilovolt-range power supplies and volatile organic solvents. Questions to settle in your institution’s own risk assessment before any run:
- Is the solvent system (for example HFP or DMAc) covered by your chemical hygiene plan and used in suitable ventilation such as a fume hood?
- Is there an approved standard operating procedure for the high-voltage equipment?
- Has the handling of the resulting nanofibers been assessed? See nanomaterial safety in the research laboratory.
- Is residual solvent in any product intended for biomedical use accounted for, as Omer et al. caution?
See also the laboratory safety and chemical hygiene plan entry.
Common misunderstandings
- “Electrospinning always makes nanofibers.” Sources describe diameters from tens of nanometers to a few micrometers; melt electrospinning can reach hundreds of micrometers (Wikipedia, general context).
- “More voltage means thinner fibers.” Typically, but some studies saw the opposite or no effect.
- “Adding more needles solves throughput.” Scale-up brings solvent-loss and bead problems, as listed above.
FAQ
What are the downsides of electrospinning?
Low single-needle throughput (0.01-2 g/h), solvent safety and residue concerns, shifting solution concentration in needleless systems, and sensitivity to humidity and temperature.
How much does an electrospinning machine cost?
The sources read give no price. Cost depends on configuration: emitter type, collector, feed system and environmental control.
How does electrospinning work?
A high-voltage field pulls a charged polymer solution from an emitter to a collector; the solvent evaporates in flight and fibers deposit as a mat.
Can you give me an example of a nanofiber?
PCL dissolved in HFP and electrospun into a non-woven mat is one gallery example; PLA in HFP and PAN in DMAc are others.
Sources
- Nanoscience Instruments, Electrospinning (technique page), read 2026-11-08.
- Omer S. et al., Scale-up of Electrospinning: Market Overview of Products and Devices for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Purposes, Pharmaceutics 2021, 13(2):286, read 2026-11-08.
- Wikipedia, Electrospinning, read 2026-11-08 (general context only).
