Besides the conductive patterning substrate, spatially well-defined microfibrous architectures can also be electrospun by using an insulating topographically structured collector (e.g.a nylon fabric). In both cases, it is proposed that the formation of the electrospun microfibrous patterns can be ascribed to the re-distribution of static electric field whenever collectors with different topography are introduced. Moreover, a series of simulation of the static electric field for various collectors (e.g.flat Al foil, conductive and insulating patterned substrates) have been systematically made to illustrate the formation mechanism, respectively. Our results are considered to warrant further scientific understanding on the formation of electrospun microfibrous patterning constructs, and helpful for easy generation of spatially defined architectures which have applications in a variety of areas such as tissue engineering, cell adhesion, proliferation and migration,etc.

Fluorescent crossbar arrays and microropes of fluorescein/PMMA and rhodamine B/PS composite nanofibers have been fabricated via centrifugal electrospinning, respectively. The morphology and structures were measured by SEM and fluorescence microscope. The two as-spun fluorescent structures have potential applications in fluorescent security, fluorescent detection, and so on. By regulating the number of the nanofibers consisted in the microropes, the fluorescence intensity of the microropes can be manipulated, as well as the mechanical property of individual nanofibers, which can be calculated easily by testing that of the whole microrope.

Using patterned conductive and insulating collection devices, fibrous patterns from polyvinyl pyrrolidone were fabricated by electrospinning. Considering that the electrospun fibers tend to deposit along the direction of electric field line, when conductive patterned template is used as collector during electrospinning, the as-spun fibers tend to assemble onto the conductive grids, whereas the dropping fibers prefer to avoid insulation grid by concentrating toward the surface of the Al foil when an insulating grid based on Al foil is used as collector.

Ultrathin indium oxide (In2O3) microtubes were successfully fabricated by electrospinning, magnetron sputtering and followed calcination. The hollow In2O3tubes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-visible spectroscopy. Outer diameter of the microtubes was in the range of 700-900 nm, and inner diameter was about 400-600 nm. Optoelectronic properties of the In2O3tubes were investigated by irradiation of UV light with different wavelengths (254, 308 and 365 nm). It was found that the In2O3microtubes had a fast and strong response to UV irradiation.