Facile patterning of electrospun polymer fibers enabled by electrostatic lensing interactions

Hierarchical polymer fibers with long-range ordering have been straightforwardly fabricated employing a macroscale patterned mesh comprising microscale metallic filaments as a conductive collector, in an otherwise conventional electrospinning apparatus. Using electrostatic simulations, we elucidate that the patterning electric field is extremely confined to the immediate vicinity of the mesh collector surface. This lensing phenomenon is controlling the fiber patterning effect, and its strength decays with height above the patterned surface. Our study sheds new light on the physical mechanism underpinning electrospinning and offers a new approach for engineering fiber architectures where a precise control of in-plane physical properties is sought