The flow rate sensitivity to voltage across four electrospray modes

The influence of potential difference on the emitted flow rate across four modes of electrospray is described for an unrestricted electrospray system. The modes are those most commonly occurring; enhanced dripping, pulsation, cone-jet, and multi-jet. It is demonstrated that within three of these modes, the effect of voltage on flow rate is generally linear, with similar magnitude of gradient across all. The effect is demonstrated to be calculable across these three modes. This finding highlights that in the absence of any flow control mechanism, the influence of electrostatic pressure in driving the flow is the key process in voltage-driven electrospray.