Leaf Vein-Inspired Electrospraying System by Grafting Origami

Abstract

Stable, long-term divisions of a water stream into two or more under electric fields (often for electrospray) have not been achieved owing to water's high surface tension (72 dyn/cm), even though it seems to be a simple technical problem. In nature, leaf veins evenly distribute water to cells, despite the numerous bifurcating divisions of veins. The main reason is the extensive interconnections among veins. Herein, we discuss a stably operating multichannel water electrospray system. The system is called a ""Leaf vein-inspired Electrospraying system by Grafting Origami (LEsGO)"" and was inspired by leaf vein structures. LEsGO is a hierarchical electrospraying system prepared with cellulose paper; multiple channels can be constructed through the simple grafting of a two channel paper unit. We demonstrate a 600% increase in water-spraying performance in an eight-channel LEsGO compared with conventional single-nozzle systems. LEsGO may potentially contribute to devices such as mass analyzers, microencapsulators, and dust removers.