Electrospinning is an effective method to prepare nanofibers at present. Aiming at problems such as low spinnable viscosity and the low productivity of the traditional multi-needle, a radial nozzle was proposed in this paper. In order to solve the problem of end effects in multi-nozzle electrospinning, COMSOL Multiphysics 6.0 software was used to simulate the electric field in electrospinning with seven radial nozzles. And the influence on the electric field intensity and distribution of the structural parameters of the radial nozzle, including the number, length, tip-shape, and tip-pointing direction of the vanes, were studied. Then, the electric field intensity of any point on the central axis of a radial nozzle was obtained based on the principle of electric field superposition, and then the rotation angle of the vanes corresponding to the minimum Coulomb repulsion force on the target point was deduced. At last, the method of electric field homogenization of a rotating vane arrangement was obtained. In the simulation, the strength and homogenization of the electric field were taken as the research objective, and the optimum structure parameters of the radial nozzle were obtained; the uniform theory of the electric field based on the orientation of the vanes was verified. Then, electrospinning with seven radial nozzles was performed, and it was found that each radial nozzle can produce multiple jets during electrospinning, and the prepared electrospun membranes have even thickness and high porosity. What is more, the fibers are relatively finer and more uniform.

A multi-vane and multi-slit electrospinning nozzle for diversion was proposed to respond to the issues of easiness of clogging, existing End Effect among needles in current multi-needle electrospinning, and uncontrollable Taylor cone position in needleless electrospinning. The upper part of the novel nozzle is a cylindrical straight pipe, and the lower part is a flow channel expansion structure composed of multiple vane components that spread outward at an angle. Ansys software was used to study the effect of different opening angles of the vanes on the spreading of the electrospinning solution. In the fluid simulation, for the novel nozzle with a central slit and a support structure, when the vanes have an opening angle of 35° and a length of 11 mm, the droplet holding time is 16 s, twice as long as the nozzle without support (8 s). This result corresponds to the subsequent droplet holding experiment, showing that the support structure aids droplet holding and enhances electrospinning stability. Comsol Multiphysics software was used to investigate the effect of the vanes’ parameters on the uniformity of the electric field. The results indicate that when the vanes of the new electrospinning nozzle are set at an opening angle of 35°, with four vanes each 11 mm in length, a receiving distance of 200 mm, and a voltage of 30 kV, the novel nozzle achieves an average electric field intensity of 5.26 × 10⁶ V/m with a CV value of 6.93%. Metal 3D printing was used to create a new nozzle for electrospinning, which successfully produced stable multiple jets and increased nanofiber output.

Electrospun nanofibers have gained much interest recently because of their adjustable porous structure, high specific surface area, and large number of active sites, further enhancing the performance of nanofiber materials, which are prepared in laboratories using the needle electrospinning method most frequently. However, the issues in the needle electrospinning process, such as liquid clogging on the needle tip and droplet dripping/splashing, have negative effects on the production, morphology, structure, and property of the electrospun nanofibers. In this paper, a novel electrospinning nozzle based on radially splayed multiple vanes was proposed to solve the problems existing in the capillary needle electrospinning process. The spreading status and holding time of the droplet on the nozzle tip were theoretically addressed through a series of mathematical calculations and derivations. The spinnability of the PAN solution on the novel nozzle was tested to investigate the spinnable concentration range. The experimental results showed that the novel nozzle with an approximate 38.5° splaying angle can promote the full spreading of the droplet up to a diameter of ∼8 mm and prolong the droplet dripping time exceeding 123 s for a 10 wt. % PAN solution. The spinnable viscosity of the novel nozzle could reach 143 Pa s, which was nearly four times that of the conventional capillary needle. In addition, the multiple jets could be inspired in electrospinning by the novel nozzle and the nanofibers prepared were featured with a fine diameter of 420 nm and a coefficient of variance value as low as 15%. Both the theoretical analysis and experimental results indicated that the novel nozzle based on radially splayed multiple vanes was capable of optimizing the spreading surface and holding time of the spinning solution, and the solution droplet could be kept stably on the nozzle without dripping and splashing. More importantly, this novel nozzle can broaden the spinnability range of the spinning solution.