Near-field electrospinning on nonconductive substrates using AC fields

Near-field electrospinning (NFES) is a micro-additive manufacturing technique that uses DC electric fields to continuously print micro- and nanofibers onto moving collectors. Traditionally, NFES was limited to printing on conductive and semiconductor substrates because of the charged nature of fibers. Here, printing on nonconductive substrates is achieved using AC electric fields which produce fibers with zero net charge that have reduced electrostatic interactions with the substrate. Furthermore, the process enables the patterning of complex patterns on soft elastomers and rigid plastics for planar and cylindrical substrates, which will lead to applications in flexible electronics and structured surface coatings.