The International Istanbul Textile Congress 2013 May 30th to June 1th 2013, Istanbul, Turkey

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CURRENT STATUS OF ELECTROSINNING EQUIPMENT MARKET

C. TEKMEN ELMARCO, Czech Republic cagri.tekmen@elmarco.com

Abstract: Electrospinning is a unique method of producing nanofibers. It has received a great deal of attention in recent times due to the significant benefits of using nanofibers in wide range of applications including filtration, technical textile, energy and medical. In parallel to this rising interest the electrospinning equipment market is rapidly growing and has already produced increased competition particularly among laboratory-scale equipment suppliers. Today, a wide range of laboratory scale equipments from very basic to advanced specifications are available. It has been observed that modularity, sample size, throughput, safety and price are key decision parameters for end-user. This paper takes a closer look at electrospinning equipment manufacturers by highlighting key specifications. Keywords: Electrospinning, Nanofiber, Equipment, Market 1. Introduction Electrospinning provides a simple and versatile method for producing nanofibers from a rich variety of materials that include polymers, composites, and ceramics with diameters ranging from several nanometers to several micrometers. The first description of a process recognizable as –electrospinning– was in 1902 when Cooley filed a United States patent entitled “Apparatus for electrically dispersing fluids”. In his patent (US 692631), he describes a method of using high voltage power supplies to generate yarn. In a typical process, an electrical potential is applied between a droplet of a polymer solution, or melt, held at the end of a capillary tube and a grounded target. When the applied electric field overcomes the surface tension of the droplet, a charged jet of polymer solution is ejected from the tip of the Taylor cone and the discharged polymer solution jet undergoes an instability and elongation process, which allows the jet to become very long and thin. Meanwhile, the solvent evaporates, leaving behind a charged polymer fiber. In the case of the melt the discharged jet solidifies when it travels in the air. A typical scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of electrospun polymeric nanofibers is shown in Figure 1. With small fiber diameter, low density, large specific surface area, small pore size, interconnected pore structure, and high porosity, electrospun nanofibers have been successfully applied in various fields, such as, tissue engineering scaffolds, technical textile, air and liquid filtration, pharmaceutical, optical electronics, solar and fuel cells and batteries [1-4].

Figure 1. A typical SEM image of polymeric nanofibers at different magnifications a) x5000 and b) x600

Interest into electrospinning technology is and 150 patents have been published in 2011of published articles. Among patent topics. A detailed analysis can be found in a significant market. According to a recent market research report global revenues for naproducts were an estimated US$382 million in 2011, growing to around $852 million by 2017 [markets for polymer nanofibers are in air and

Figure 2. Statistics of published a) articles and b) patents about electrospun nanofibers. (

and electrospinning, Web of Science Database) The growing nanofiber market has leads an increase in nanofiber production equipment manufacturerincrease is particularly significant for labtechnologies, which are Nanospider(centrifugal spinning) from Fiberio. In addition, there are several suppliers offering multielectrospinning equipment. However, these systems are subject to problems related to polymer clogging at the spinneret nozzle, which may limit the achievable throughput of contipaper will address only the lab-scale equipment.is given in Figure 3. Combining of up to four spinning units, NSthroughput for cost effective nanofiber

Figure 2. Methods and Results A recent study shows that about twenty globally. Based on equipment specifications and be found in the market for a wide range of priceclassified based on some key specifications as listed simplest type of equipment comprises only a highrotating drum) which are the minimum requirements to start producing nanofibers.

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technology is constantly growing. As shown in Figure 2and 150 patents have been published in 2011. Statistics shows that USA, China, and South Korea hold

patent applications filtration media, methods, and apparatus can be found in a recent review by Persano et al., [5]. This strong interest

. According to a recent market research report global revenues for naproducts were an estimated US$382 million in 2011, growing to around $852 million by 2017 [markets for polymer nanofibers are in air and water filtration, composites and textiles.

Statistics of published a) articles and b) patents about electrospun nanofibers. (Keywordsand electrospinning, Web of Science Database)

The growing nanofiber market has leads an increase in nanofiber production equipment manufacturerincrease is particularly significant for lab-scale equipments as production at industrial scale is limited with few technologies, which are Nanospider™ (free-surface electrospinning) from Elmarco [

Fiberio. In addition, there are several suppliers offering multielectrospinning equipment. However, these systems are subject to problems related to polymer clogging at the spinneret nozzle, which may limit the achievable throughput of continuous production processes. This

scale equipment. An industrial-scale electrospinning equipment from Elmarco Combining of up to four spinning units, NS Production Lines deliver high volume

nanofiber production.

Figure 2. NS 8S1600U – Nanospider™ Production Line

about twenty companies are supplying lab-scale electrospinning Based on equipment specifications and accessories a variety of model, from basic to advanced, can

be found in the market for a wide range of price. Since the selection is wide, labclassified based on some key specifications as listed in Table 1. As seen from Figure simplest type of equipment comprises only a high-voltage supply, a syringe pump and a collector (plate or rotating drum) which are the minimum requirements to start producing nanofibers.

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2, more than 400 articles USA, China, and South Korea hold 70%

filtration media, methods, and apparatus are the main his strong interest created

. According to a recent market research report global revenues for nanofiber related products were an estimated US$382 million in 2011, growing to around $852 million by 2017 [6]. Main

water filtration, composites and textiles.

Keywords: polymer, nanofibers

The growing nanofiber market has leads an increase in nanofiber production equipment manufacturers. This scale equipments as production at industrial scale is limited with few

surface electrospinning) from Elmarco [7] and Forcespinning™ Fiberio. In addition, there are several suppliers offering multi-needle/nozzle

electrospinning equipment. However, these systems are subject to problems related to polymer clogging at nuous production processes. This

scale electrospinning equipment from Elmarco Production Lines deliver high volume

electrospinning equipment a variety of model, from basic to advanced, can

the selection is wide, lab-scale equipments are Figure 3a, “starter” is the

voltage supply, a syringe pump and a collector (plate or

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Extensive basic research has shown the outstanding benefits of nanofibers in a variety of applications in environment, energy and medical. The availability to produce nanofibers at industrial scale allows successful transfers from basic research to industrial applications. Such potential also created a demand in more advanced lab-scale equipments with additional specifications and accessories. Some specifications are required for process and safety reasons. For example, an atmosphere control system is important to produce nanofibers with desired properties since environmental conditions (temperature and humidity) strongly influence the electrospinning process. Also, a ventilation system might be necessary in case of using solvents. An example for “advanced” type equipment (NS 1WS500U) is shown in Figure 3b. Based on Elmarco‘s proprietary needle-free electrospinning process, the NS 1WS500U combines industrial production technology with features of high-end laboratory tool [3].

A: Syringe pump B: Single needle C: High voltage supply D: Fibers E: Collector

Figure 3. Lab-scale electrospinning equipment a) starter type (single needle) and b) advanced type (needle-free) Among the manufacturers, the majority is supplying basic and standard type equipment based on needle type electrospinning. Almost one third of the manufacturers are from Czech Republic, Japan and India. Depending on the technology, quality, specifications and available accessories the price of lab-scale equipment is ranging from ten to hundred thousand of US dollars. Only leading suppliers provide on-site training and customer support.

Table 1. Classification of lab-scale equipment based on main specifications Specification Starter Basic Standard Advanced

Single jet ● ● ● ●

Plate collector ● ● ● ●

Rotating drum ● ● ● ●

Rotating disc ● ● ●

Core-shell ● ● ●

Chamber ● ● ●

Polarity ● ● ●

Axis control ● ● ●

Insulation ● ●

Ventilation ● ●

Multi jet ● ●

Conveyer belt ● ●

Air flow ●

Atmosphere control ●

Remote control ●

Safety ●

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Another result of this study shows modularity, samples size, throughput, safety and price are the main factors influencing the decision when buying lab-scale equipment. For example, for academic research –modularity– is very important for an equipment to be capable of carrying out different research projects. Also, –price– is a key factor since most academia and governmental institutions have limited budget. Conversely, for industrial research and development –sample size– and –throughput– are more important factors. In addition to these key factors, uniformity, homogeneity, reproducibility, and ability to scale up are other important parameters that have to be taken into account.

Table 2. Key decision making parameters

Modularity Sample size Throughput Safety Price

Starter ●●●● ● ● ● ●

Basic ●●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

Standard ●● ●●● ●●● ●●● ●●●

Advanced ● ●●●● ●●●● ●●●● ●●●●

(●–lowest; ●●●●–highest) 3. Conclusion The market of lab-scale electrospinning equipment is expected to grow significantly due to the unique benefits of nanofibers and their application in a wide range of industrial fields including environment, energy, biotechnology and pharmaceutics. The continuous development driven by basic and applied research will stimulate the demand for lab-scale equipment. Many technological solutions are already being transferred from basic research to industrial applications. Several companies are active as providers of electrospinning equipment as well as of nanofiber based products.

References [1] Li, D. & Xia, Y.: Electrospinning of Nanofibers: Reinventing the Wheel?, Advanced Materials, 16, 1151-

1170, (2004). [2] Doshi, J. & Reneker, D.H.: Electrospinning Process and Applications of Electrospun Fibers, Journal of

Electrostatics, 35, 151-160, (1995). [3] Tucker, N.; Stanger, J,; Staiger, M.P.; Razzaq, H. & Hofman, K.: The History of the Science and

Technology of Electrospinning from 1600 to 1995, Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, 7(2), 63–73, (2012).

[4] Ramakrishna, S.; Fujihara, K. & Teo, W.E.: An Introduction to Electrospinning and Nanofibers, World Scientific Publishing, ISBN 981-256-415-2, (2005).

[5] Persano, L.; Camposeo A.; Tekmen, C. & Pisignano, D.: Industrial Upscaling of Electrospinning and Applications of Polymer Nanofibers: A Review, Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, (2013)

[6] The Global Market for Nanofibers, Future Markets Inc, Technology Report No. 61, Second Edition, (2012)

[7] http://www.elmarco.com/