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How Gravity and Surface Tension Shape Liquid Fibers During Spinning

By Freedom251 Team · · 11 min read

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Liquid fibers form when a process-specific force stretches a liquid faster than surface tension can contract it and faster than the jet can break apart. In electrospinning, an electric field deforms a pendant droplet and ejects a charged jet. In centrifugal spinning, rotation drives liquid outward through an orifice. Surface tension continually tries to reduce the jet to droplets, while viscosity and polymer-chain entanglement can hold it together long enough to become a continuous fiber. Gravity usually does not dominate these processes, but apparatus orientation can shift the starting droplet, jet path, cone shape, diameter and collection efficiency.

What the force balance means

A liquid jet is an elongated column with far more exposed surface area than a compact drop containing the same volume. Surface tension is the liquid–air interface’s tendency to reduce that area. It therefore pulls the jet inward, amplifying disturbances on its surface. If those disturbances grow faster than the liquid can be stretched, the column develops necks and separates into droplets or bead-like segments. This is the Rayleigh, or Plateau–Rayleigh, breakup described in reviews of polymer processing and electrospun fibers (ACS Omega, 2023; Polymers, 2019).

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A continuous fiber is possible when the driving force keeps extending the jet and the material supplies enough resistance to delay breakup until the solvent has evaporated or the melt has solidified. The relevant competition is therefore not “gravity versus surface tension” alone. It is a coupled balance among:

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  • Process forcing: electrical stress in electrospinning or centrifugal acceleration in centrifugal spinning.
  • Surface tension: the contraction that favors a rounded drop.
  • Rheology: viscosity and polymer-chain entanglement that resist rapid thinning and necking.
  • Gravity: the body force that shifts the pendant liquid and can deflect the jet, depending on orientation and the strength of the other forces.

Because liquids, polymers, solvents, temperatures and apparatuses differ, no single universal numerical ranking of gravity, surface tension and process forcing applies across all spinning methods. The cited reviews discuss method-specific interactions rather than one directly comparable dataset.

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“Spinning” describes different processes

Electrospinning: an electric field pulls the jet

In electrospinning, a droplet is held at a spinneret while a high electric field acts between the spinneret and a collector. Charges accumulate on the droplet surface. As the field is increased, electrical stress deforms the droplet into a cone and eventually overcomes the combination of surface tension and the liquid’s resistance to deformation. A charged filament leaves the cone and travels toward the collector.

The jet initially elongates along the field direction, becoming thinner as it travels. It can then undergo two broad classes of instability. Axisymmetric disturbances produce necking and possible droplet formation; non-axisymmetric bending or whipping causes the jet to sweep through a wider path. The electric field continues to stretch and accelerate the charged liquid, while surface tension tries to smooth and contract it. Polymer viscoelasticity and chain entanglement determine whether the jet survives those disturbances long enough to form a fiber. A detailed review of these stages is available in “Electrospinning jets and nanofibrous structures”.

Centrifugal spinning: rotation supplies the outward force

Centrifugal spinning uses a rotating head, disk or vessel with one or more spinneret openings. Rotation creates an outward acceleration on the liquid. When that forcing is sufficient relative to surface tension and the fluid’s resistance, liquid is expelled through an orifice as a jet. The jet then stretches while moving toward a collector, and solvent removal or cooling can solidify it.

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Increasing rotational speed is not an unlimited solution. A faster jet can stretch more strongly, but it can also amplify disturbances, shorten the time available for solvent removal, or produce droplets if the liquid lacks enough rheological resistance. Concentration, viscosity, surface tension, temperature, evaporation rate and collector distance all affect whether the expelled stream remains continuous. The method-specific force balance is summarized in the review of non-electro nanofiber techniques (RSC Advances, 2016).

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Why the distinction matters

An electric field and a rotating head do not apply force in the same way. Electrical stress acts on charge at the droplet and along a charged jet. Centrifugal forcing acts through rotation and the liquid’s inertia. A setting that stabilizes an electrospun cone cannot be transferred directly to a centrifugal spinner, and a change in rotational speed cannot be interpreted as an equivalent change in electric field. Compare the two methods by the source and direction of the stretching force, not by the shared word “spinning.”

How surface tension creates beads and droplets

From a small disturbance to breakup

No practical jet is perfectly uniform. A slight variation in radius changes the local capillary pressure: narrower sections have a stronger tendency to contract, while liquid is driven away from the neck toward wider sections. That feedback can amplify the original variation. The neck becomes thinner, the disturbance grows, and the jet eventually pinches off into drops. In a fiber process, the same behavior appears as beads on a filament when breakup is incomplete.

Surface tension is not simply a “bad” force. It helps define the stable droplet at the spinneret and contributes to the pressure that must be overcome to initiate a jet. The problem is that, after ejection, the same contraction opposes the long, thin geometry needed for a fiber.

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Why changing surface tension alone does not predict fiber diameter

It is tempting to say that higher surface tension always makes thicker fibers or that lower surface tension always stabilizes a jet. Neither rule is reliable by itself. Surface tension interacts with flow rate, electric or centrifugal forcing, viscosity, elasticity, solvent evaporation and distance to the collector. Lowering surface tension can make jet initiation easier, but a formulation with too little cohesive resistance may still develop severe whipping or droplets. A higher-surface-tension liquid may remain processable if polymer entanglement and the applied stretching force sufficiently delay breakup.

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The material’s resistance to thinning

Viscosity dissipates motion and slows the growth of capillary disturbances. Long polymer chains add an elastic resistance when they are entangled; the chains must be pulled apart and oriented as the jet elongates. Too little viscosity or entanglement leaves the jet vulnerable to beads and droplets. Excessive resistance can prevent the liquid from leaving the spinneret cleanly or can limit how far it stretches. The rheology review in ACS Omega treats morphology as a processing-and-material problem rather than a surface-tension-only problem.

Where gravity enters the process

Gravity acts first on the pendant droplet

Before a jet is launched, gravity pulls the liquid downward and changes the shape of the pendant drop. The effect is most visible when the spinneret is oriented so that the electric or centrifugal forcing is not aligned with the gravitational direction, or when the applied process force is relatively weak. A distorted starting drop can alter the point at which a cone forms and the direction in which the first filament leaves.

Orientation can change a nominally identical run

A review of electrospinning experiments reports that gravity is generally smaller than electrical forces, yet changing apparatus orientation can affect Taylor-cone shape, jet trajectory, fiber diameter and diameter distribution, and process efficiency (Polymers, 2020). Gravity can also change where fibers land on a collector if the jet has a long flight path or if the electrical forcing is near the threshold for stable initiation.

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This does not mean gravity dominates every electrospinning setup. Once electrical stress strongly controls the cone and jet, gravity may be a secondary perturbation. It does mean that “gravity is irrelevant” is too broad: the apparatus orientation and the relative strengths of all forces determine whether its influence is detectable.

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Gravity in centrifugal equipment

In centrifugal spinning, the dominant outward acceleration is generated by rotation, but gravity still acts on the liquid reservoir, the rotating head and the free jet. Its effect depends on the machine’s axis, the spinneret geometry, the collector arrangement and the ratio between rotational forcing and gravitational acceleration. Gravity can bias the initial liquid distribution or the path after ejection, but the cited review does not establish one universal gravity correction that applies to every centrifugal design.

What determines a continuous fiber, a bead or a droplet?

The observed morphology is the result of the jet’s history, not one isolated parameter.

  • Continuous fiber: process forcing stretches the liquid; viscosity and chain entanglement slow capillary breakup; solvent evaporation or cooling fixes the elongated shape before the jet reaches the collector.
  • Beaded fiber: the jet remains partly connected, but capillary necking grows faster than the material can resist it. Beads appear along an otherwise fibrous path.
  • Separated droplets: surface-tension-driven necking completes before solidification, or the liquid has too little rheological resistance for a stable filament.
  • Unstable, wide deposition: bending or whipping spreads the jet laterally. In electrospinning this can be a normal charged-jet instability, but excessive motion can broaden the diameter distribution or reduce collection efficiency.

Temperature and solvent loss matter because viscosity changes during flight. A liquid that begins easy to eject can become more resistant as solvent evaporates; conversely, cooling or dilution can leave it too fluid for a continuous strand. The relevant question is whether the jet’s resistance increases quickly enough, and in the right place, to outlast the capillary instability.

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Electrospinning: a force-by-force sequence

  1. Form the pendant drop. Feed the solution to the spinneret and establish a stable drop. Its shape reflects flow, surface tension, nozzle geometry and gravity.
  2. Apply the electric field. Increase the field until electrical stress deforms the drop into a cone. The exact onset depends on the liquid and geometry; no universal field value is established by the cited sources.
  3. Launch the charged jet. Electrical force overcomes the drop’s capillary restoring tendency and the liquid’s resistance to deformation.
  4. Stretch and thin the jet. The charged stream accelerates and elongates. Surface tension attempts to contract it, while viscosity and polymer entanglement resist rapid necking.
  5. Allow instability and solidification to evolve. Axial breakup and bending/whipping may occur while solvent evaporates. The collector must be far enough away for the intended solidification history, but not so far that the jet loses control or dries prematurely.
  6. Inspect morphology and trajectory. Beads, droplets, a shifted cone or an unexpectedly broad deposition pattern indicate that the force and rheology balance has changed.
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Centrifugal spinning: a force-by-force sequence

  1. Load the rotating reservoir. Fill the head or disk consistently so that the liquid reaches the orifices without large variations in pressure or residence time.
  2. Set rotation and observe ejection. Rotation supplies the outward force. Liquid leaves when the centrifugal driving pressure and inertia overcome surface tension and the fluid’s resistance at the orifice.
  3. Stretch the expelled stream. The jet is extended by continued motion toward the collector. Viscosity and polymer entanglement must slow capillary necking without blocking ejection.
  4. Control the flight path. Collector distance, evaporation, temperature and the machine’s orientation determine how much stretching and solidification occur before deposition.
  5. Check for a speed-related trade-off. More rotation can increase throughput or stretching, but it can also promote breakup if the liquid cannot remain coherent. Change one operating variable at a time while monitoring morphology.

Electrospinning and centrifugal spinning compared

Comparison axis Electrospinning Centrifugal spinning
Primary jet-driving force Electrical stress acting on a charged droplet and jet Outward centrifugal forcing from a rotating head or disk
How initiation defeats surface tension Field-induced deformation forms a cone and ejects the charged stream Rotational pressure and inertia expel liquid through an orifice
Typical jet instabilities Axisymmetric necking plus non-axisymmetric bending or whipping Capillary breakup and disturbances during high-speed ejection and flight
Gravity and orientation Usually secondary to electrical forcing, but orientation can alter cone shape, trajectory, diameter, distribution and efficiency Depends on rotation axis, spinneret geometry and collector; no universal correction is established
Material controls Viscosity, polymer entanglement, conductivity, solvent loss and viscoelasticity Viscosity, concentration, surface tension, evaporation, temperature and collector distance
Possible outcomes Continuous fibers, beads, droplets or broad whipped deposition Continuous fibers, beads or droplets depending on rotational forcing and rheology

The table identifies qualitative comparison axes supported by the cited reviews. It should not be read as a shared scale: the sources do not provide a single experiment that ranks the magnitude of gravity against surface tension for both methods.

A practical diagnostic when the jet fails

If no jet starts

  • In electrospinning, check whether the field is deforming the drop and whether the electrical path is correctly established. A drop that remains rounded indicates that electrical stress has not overcome the capillary and material resistance in that setup.
  • In centrifugal spinning, check rotation, liquid delivery and orifice wetting. Insufficient outward forcing or excessive viscosity can prevent ejection.
  • Inspect orientation. A gravity-distorted or poorly positioned pendant drop can change the initiation point even when the nominal operating settings are unchanged.

If beads or droplets appear

  • Treat the symptom as evidence of capillary breakup, not as proof that one parameter is solely responsible.
  • Evaluate concentration, viscosity and polymer-chain entanglement; insufficient resistance allows necks to grow.
  • Check whether the jet is being stretched too aggressively for the formulation, whether solvent is evaporating too slowly, or whether the collector distance leaves too little time for solidification.
  • For electrospinning, distinguish axial beads from lateral whipping. For centrifugal spinning, examine whether increased rotation has pushed the jet beyond its stable stretching range.

If diameter or deposition varies across the collector

  • Check apparatus orientation and the direction of gravity relative to the jet. Orientation effects can appear as changes in cone shape, trajectory or diameter distribution.
  • Look for a changing feed rate, temperature or solvent composition, since rheology can evolve during a run.
  • Map the collector rather than judging one spot. A moving or whipping jet can create a broad distribution even when individual strands are continuous.

How to design a fair comparison or experiment

Comparisons are meaningful only when the liquid formulation and observation criteria are defined. Record the spinneret orifice, feed rate, collector distance, temperature, concentration, solvent system, orientation and collection time. For electrospinning, report the electrical geometry and field conditions; for centrifugal spinning, report the rotating geometry and speed. Keep the terms “fiber,” “bead” and “droplet” operationally defined by microscopy or another stated inspection method.

Change one factor at a time when possible. First establish whether the jet can be initiated, then determine whether it remains continuous, and finally measure diameter and deposition uniformity. Repeat runs after rotating the apparatus only if the goal is to test gravity’s role; otherwise, orientation is a confounding variable. Interpret any observed change as a change in the combined force–rheology balance, not as an isolated measurement of gravity or surface tension.

What the evidence can—and cannot—establish

The reviews agree on the mechanism: surface tension promotes contraction and breakup; electrical or centrifugal forcing supplies the process-specific stretch; viscosity and polymer entanglement can delay breakup; and gravity is setup-dependent. They do not establish a universal threshold at which gravity becomes negligible, a common numerical breakup criterion for all liquids, or one quantitative ranking that covers electrospinning and centrifugal spinning together. Those values must be determined for a specified formulation and apparatus.

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For that reason, a useful explanation of liquid fibers starts with the process being used, identifies the force that launches the jet, and then asks whether the material can resist capillary breakup long enough to solidify. Gravity belongs in that analysis as an orientation-dependent body force—sometimes small, sometimes measurable—not as a force that can be ignored by definition.

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