Near-field electrospinning (NFES) is an additive manufacturing technique that allows for both high-resolution 3D structures and a wide variety of printed materials. Typically, a high electric field between a nozzle, the spinneret, and the substrate creates a μm-sized jet of a supplied liquid material. With mm distances between spinneret and sample, it is possible to have a fair control of the lateral placement of the deposited material. The placement is, however, distributed by various electrostatic phenomena, and this is one of the present challenges in developing NFES into a more versatile technique. In this paper, a higher degree of control in NFES placement was achieved through manipulation of the electric field direction, using an auxiliary steering electrode. The position of a polycaprolactone plastic jet was determined in real-time with a camera attached to a stereo microscope. The measured position was used to calculate an applied potential to the steering electrode to guide the plastic jet to the desired position. The placement accuracy was measured both at the substrate and during flight using the camera and microscope. The higher control was revealed through the deposition of plastic fibers in a pattern with decreasing separation, with and without the active steering electrode enabled. It is in the authors’ opinion that the fabrication of dense structures could be possible with further refinement of the technique.

近场静电纺丝（NFES）是一种增材制造技术，可以同时使用高分辨率3D结构和多种印刷材料。通常，喷嘴，喷丝头和基材之间的高电场会产生μ所供应液体材料的m尺寸喷嘴。在喷丝头和样品之间的距离为mm的情况下，可以合理控制沉积材料的横向放置。但是，该位置因各种静电现象而分布，这是将NFES发展为更通用的技术时所面临的挑战之一。在本文中，通过使用辅助转向电极操纵电场方向，可以实现更高程度的NFES放置控制。聚己内酯塑料射流的位置是使用连接到体视显微镜的相机实时确定的。测量的位置用于计算施加到转向电极的电位，以将塑料射流引导至所需位置。使用照相机和显微镜在基材上和飞行过程中都测量了放置精度。在启用和未启用主动操纵电极的情况下，通过以减少间隔的图案沉积塑料纤维来揭示更高的控制力。作者认为，随着技术的进一步完善，可以制造致密的结构。