Bead-on-string structure formed by electrohydrodynamic printing

Abstract

A Bead-on-String (B-S) structure which consists of droplet and filament is generated based on electrohydrodynamic printing system. The formation process of the B-S structure is demonstrated and discussed. Subsequently, the influence of the substrate moving speed on the B-S structure is investigated. The size of the droplet in the B-S structure decreases with the substrate moving speed. When the substrate moving speed is higher than the jetting speed, satellite droplet will appear and its number increases with the substrate moving speed. The effect of the solution concentration on the deposited patterns is also studied. A continuous line is printed with 3 wt% PEO solution. The B-S structure is generated when the concentration of the PEO solution is within 5-15 wt%. Moreover, the size of the droplet decreases with the increasing of the solution concentration. At the concentration of 18 wt%, nanofiber is produced and a pattern similar to the B-S structure is deposited on the substrate.