TITLE:
Generation of biomaterial particles with controlled dimensions via electrospraying
AUTHORS:
Xiang Li, Gaorong Han, Jie Huang, Mohan Edirisinghe, William Bonfield
KEYWORDS:
Electrospraying; Hydroxyapatite; Nozzle Geometry Effect
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Regenerative Medicine,
Vol.1 No.1,
June
29,
2012
ABSTRACT: It is well known that small biomaterial particles can lead to superior properties demanded by advanced applications in tissue engineering. Electrospraying has been considered as a promising approach to prepare fine particles, but reducing the particle size during such jetting process is always challenging. This is because the size of the as-sprayed particles is always limited by the device outlet diameter used. In the study we show that hydroxyapatite (HA) relics of 2 - 3 μm with low standard deviation can be deposited using a large nozzle (diameter of 1100 μm) only by reducing the nozzle tip angle from 90° to 15°. The mechanism of such phenomenon was extensively discussed, and a range of refined HA patterns were successfully prepared using the updated electrspraying configuration. We anticipate our findings to have a significant impact on the research of nanostructured biomaterials with superior properties which are realized by reducing the particle size using a greener electrically-driven processing technique.