title: Needleless Electrohydrodynamic Cojetting of Bicompartmental Particles and Fibers from an Extended Fluid Interface.
abstract: Electrohydrodynamic cojetting can result in fibers (electrospinning) and particles (electrospraying) with complex, bicompartmental architectures. An important consideration for application of bicompartmental particles and fibers is the limited throughput derived from the use of parallel capillaries, which require laminar flow to form a multifluidic interface. Here, a novel synthesis approach that takes advantage of an extended bicompartmental fluid interface formed at the sharp edge of a 2D plate is reported. Upon application of an electrical potential to the plate, several electrified fluid jets form spontaneously. Depending on the processing conditions, either bicompartmental particles or fibers with well-defined architectures are prepared. Importantly, this needleless process yields production rates that are more than 30 times higher than those of conventional needle-based techniques. Fiber properties, such as morphology or size, are independent of the flow rate, indicating that this process is physically self-regulating by adjusting the number of jets ejecting from the extended fluid interface. The needleless preparation of bicompartmental particles and fibers is an important technological breakthrough that can enable further advances ranging from drug delivery and tissue engineering to industrial applications.
authors.affiliation: Biointerfaces Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jordahl
authors.affiliation: Biointerfaces Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramcharan
authors.affiliation: Biointerfaces Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Jason V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.affiliation: Biointerfaces Institute, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lahann
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials
keywords: Janus fibers; Janus particles; electrospinning; electrospraying; high-throughput synthesis; microfluidics