Micro- and nanoparticle production by electrospraying

Electrospraying is a method of liquid atomisation by electrical forces. Droplets produced by electrospraying are highly charged, that prevents their coagulation, and promotes self-dispersion. Droplets can be extremely small, in special cases down to nanometers, and the charge and size of the droplets can be controlled to some extent by voltage and flow rate. Electrospraying is applied in many industrial processes such as painting, microencapsulation, electroemulsification, fine powder production, or micro- and nanothin film deposition prepared from solutions or colloidal suspensions. Recently, the electrospraying entered in microfluidic devices and nanotechnology. Spraying solutions or suspensions allows production of fine particles, down to nanometer size, which can be used in industrial processes or for research purposes. The paper reviews electrostatic methods for fine particles production. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.