Development and Optimization of an Electrospraying Device for the Continuous Collection of Nano- and Microparticles

The development, fabrication and testing of a compact electrospray device are presented with the dual goal of increasing yields and total particle amounts by orders of magnitude and retaining the monodispersity of the generated polymeric particles. A new and optimized electrospraying device producing 285 mg/24h monodisperse micro-sized particles with a yield of 79.2% was developed and tested. The new design allowed continuous particle production and collection. By optimization of the chamber design, high velocities in combination with reduced turbulences led to increasing yields. In comparison to a simple electrospraying configuration, the new device enabled collection 14.25 times more particles in 24h. Besides this significant increase in particle amounts and numbers, collection effectiveness increased as well. While a basic electrospraying device allowed collection of only 34.7% of the generated particles, the yields determined for the new device were 79.2%. We report a 2.28 times increase in effectiveness combined with the potential to generate continuously particles with enhanced productivity while maintaining monodispersity of the particles. This modified electrospraying device may facilitate the production of micro- and nano-sized particles for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications in relevant amounts and reduced losses inside the device.