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A 1,547-DOLLAR BENCH RIG THAT SPINS POLYMER INTO FIBRES ABOUT A MICROMETRE THICK AND LAYS THEM DOWN AS AN EVEN MEMBRANE

A bench rig that spins polymer solution into fibres about a micrometre thick and lays them into an even membrane, for about fifteen hundred dollars in parts.

by J A Gutierrez-Rivera, A F Roca-Arroyo, D A Castilla-Casadiego, A Albis

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

ScienceOpen-hardware

Built withArduino

difficulty
●●●●●
time
several weekends
license
CC BY
repo
repo FINISHED0 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

This is a research paper reporting a working electrospinning system built for materials science work, not a weekend project. The system applies up to 30 kV to turn polymer solution into fibres that land on a flat collector moved in X and Y by stepper motors running GRBL. The bidirectional motion is what makes the membrane uniform instead of piling fibre in the middle. With polystyrene, the paper reports average fibre diameters falling from 1.3 µm at 14 kV to 1.05 µm at 20 kV, and membrane thickness of 0.100 mm with very little variation across 20 micrometer measurements over the membrane surface, at a collector speed of 5000 mm/min. The build itself is an aluminium extrusion frame with an acrylic enclosure, a commercial syringe pump, a high-voltage supply, and an Arduino Uno with a CNC shield driving two stepper motors, with Blender CAD files, drawings, a G-code trajectory and a Python script published. The cost is 1,546.97 dollars, which is honest for a laboratory instrument; the paper names the Fluidnatek Spinbox as the commercial analogue, but does not publish a price for it. This is for someone who needs electrospun membranes and has a reason to build instead of buy. The single biggest trap is underestimating the high voltage and the solvents: the paper's acrylic enclosure, a dry environment, and running the whole system inside a fume hood are not optional. If you do not have a fume hood and a working knowledge of high-voltage safety, this is not the project to start with.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —Blender CAD files, laser-cut PDF drawings, a G-code trajectory and a Python script are published on Mendeley Data under CC BY; the full BOM with part numbers is in the paper. The Arduino runs stock GRBL, driven from Universal G-code Sender.
  • —The paper is open access in HardwareX (DOI 10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00704).
  • —There is no GitHub repository; all files are in the dataset at doi 10.17632/44t3m6yzt9.2.
  • —The high-voltage supply is specified by model and manufacturer (Analog Technologies AHVAC30KVR5MABT) and listed in the BOM.
  • —No video walkthrough exists; the paper is the primary build guide.
  • —Licence is CC BY, which permits commercial use with attribution.

Parts to buy

10 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • Aluminium extrusion frameFind
  • Acrylic sheetsFind
  • Syringe pumpFind
  • High-voltage supply reading to 30 kVFind
  • Arduino UnoFind
  • CNC shieldFind
  • A4988 stepper driversFind
  • Two stepper motorsFind
  • Grounding hardwareFind
  • VentilationFind

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Can I build this?

Printnothing required
Buyaluminium extrusion frame, acrylic sheets, syringe pump, high-voltage supply reading to 30 kV, Arduino Uno, CNC shield, A4988 stepper drivers, two stepper motors, grounding hardware, ventilation
ToolsCAD software for the mechanical files, Arduino IDE, access to a fume hood or equivalent ventilation, high-voltage safety training
Skillshigh-voltage electronics, CNC assembly, GRBL configuration, materials science basics, and the lab safety training that makes you respect 30 kV and organic solvents
Timeseveral weekends to source parts, assemble the frame, wire the high-voltage circuit, configure GRBL, and validate output with SEM
Cost$$$, dominated by the high-voltage supply and the syringe pump; the paper reports 1,546.97 dollars total
SafetyUp to 30 kV and organic solvents. The paper requires the acrylic enclosure, a dry environment, and operating the whole system inside a fume hood, with gloves, safety goggles, a mask and a lab coat. It has no automatic interlock, so the high-voltage supply is switched manually. Do not operate this in a home workshop or anywhere without proper ventilation and high-voltage safety measures. This is a laboratory instrument and must be treated as one.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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Gallery

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Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Read the paper (HardwareX DOI 10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00704, open access under CC BY. This is the build guide.)
  2. 2.Download the design files (Mendeley Data doi 10.17632/44t3m6yzt9.2. Blender CAD files, laser-cut PDFs, the G-code trajectory and the Python script are here; the BOM is Table 2 in the paper.)
  3. 3.Source the high-voltage supply(The paper specifies the Analog Technologies AHVAC30KVR5MABT (30 kV, 0.5 mA). Together with the syringe pump it dominates the cost, so check availability first.)
  4. 4.Assemble the frame and test GRBL(Build the mechanical system first and verify the collector motion before connecting high voltage.)

KNOWN ISSUES

  • The high-voltage supply (Analog Technologies AHVAC30KVR5MABT, 559 dollars in the BOM) is the most expensive single part, closely followed by the NE-500 syringe pump. The paper says both can be replaced with cheaper or homemade versions, but then you are re-establishing the process parameters yourself.
  • 30 kV is dangerous and the organic solvents are flammable and toxic. The paper's protective enclosure, a dry environment, and operating the whole system inside a fume hood with gloves, goggles, mask and lab coat are not optional, and it describes no automatic safety interlock, so consider adding one yourself.
  • There is no video walkthrough and no GitHub repository with issues. The paper and the dataset are the only documentation; if something does not work, you are troubleshooting from first principles.
  • The syringe pump is a commercial unit; substituting a DIY pump means recalibrating flow rates and verifying that the pump does not introduce vibration that disrupts the jet.
  • The reported results are from the authors' own build. Fibre diameter, porosity and contact angle will vary with polymer, solvent, voltage and environmental humidity; replicating their exact numbers is not guaranteed.
  • The collector motion is what makes the membrane uniform. If the GRBL configuration is wrong or the steppers skip, the fibre will pile in the middle and the membrane will be unusable.

Can I build this without access to a laboratory?

No. The 30 kV supply and the organic solvents require proper ventilation, grounding and high-voltage safety training. This is a laboratory instrument and must be treated as one.

What is the advantage of the bidirectional collector?

Without collector motion, the fibre lands in the middle and builds up a thick, uneven pile. Moving the collector on both X and Y spreads the fibre across the entire plate, producing a uniform membrane of controlled thickness.

Is there a cheaper way to get electrospun membranes?

If you need membranes but do not need to control the process parameters, commercial membranes are available for filtration and tissue engineering applications. If you need to experiment with different polymers or voltages, this rig is what makes that possible without buying a commercial electrospinner such as the Fluidnatek Spinbox the paper names as the closest analogue.

Can I use a different polymer or solvent?

Yes, but you will need to recalibrate the voltage, flow rate and collector speed. The paper reports results for one specific polymer-solvent system; changing either means starting the parameter sweep from scratch.

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Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

The paper names the Fluidnatek Spinbox as the closest commercial analogue, and builds the open version around a 30 kV supply inside an acrylic enclosure. If you have run a high-voltage setup like this, what safety measures would you add on top?

CompareeTEAM28d agoedited

Practical notes from our verification: the design files are on Mendeley Data, not GitHub, so there is no issues page or community discussion. The dataset holds Blender CAD files, PDF drawings for the acrylic panels, a G-code trajectory and a Python script; the bill of materials is Table 2 in the paper, and the Arduino runs standard GRBL firmware. The high-voltage supply is named precisely — model AHVAC30KVR5MABT from Analog Technologies, up to 30 kV — with a purchase link in the BOM, so sourcing is easier than with many papers. There is no video walkthrough, so if the motion setup does not match your steppers or your fibres do not match the published images, you are troubleshooting from the paper alone. The paper does the right thing on safety: an acrylic protective enclosure is part of the design, and it asks for a well-ventilated area or an exhaust hood when handling the polymer solutions. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

J A Gutierrez-Rivera, A F Roca-Arroyo, D A Castilla-Casadiego, A Albis

The team works across the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami and the Chemical Engineering Program at Universidad del Atlantico in Puerto Colombia. They built this system to produce electrospun membranes for materials science research and published the design so others could replicate the work without needing a commercial instrument.

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  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
  • Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
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