Methods and Engineering of Electrospinning

Electrospinning enables producing nanofibers or nanofiber mats from diverse polymers, polymer blends or polymers with embedded nanoparticles. Depending on the technology used, even core–shell structures or Janus fibers can be created. Such nanofibers can be applied in a broad range of fields, from biotechnology and biomedicine to filters and batteries. Here we give an overview of different electrospinning methods, from the needle-based technique to better upscalable needleless techniques, followed by recent developments in near-field electrospinning. Starting from the basic knowledge, each section will explain the respective techniques in detail, allowing beginners to get a first idea as well as specialists to gain most recent knowledge in the broad field of electrospinning.