Poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes produced by portable electrospinning device for in situ applications

Portable electrospinning devices have some advantages over conventional benchtop equipment, such as lower cost, better transportability, ease of operation and flexibility in size, shape and deposition surface, especially for in situ applications, such as wound dressings, drug release and cosmetics. In this work, poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes were produced from aqueous solutions, with different viscosities and at different electric field values, using a portable electrospinning device prototype. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the morphology of the membranes. The results showed that the prototype allowed the electrospinning of membranes, presenting fiber diameter of 147 +/- 11 nm and deposition width of 4,6 +/- 0.3 cm, similar to the values obtained with the benchtop device.