Crystalline order and mechanical properties of as-electrospun and post-treated bundles of uniaxially aligned polyacrylonitrile nanofiber

Fabrication, Microstructures and Sensor Applications of Highly Ordered Electrospun Nanofibers: A Review

The review summarizes the fabrication, microstructures, and sensor applications of highly ordered electrospun nanofibers. In the traditional electrospinning process, electrospun nanofibers usually have disordered or random microstructures due to the chaotic oscillation of the electrospinning jet. Different electrospinning methods can be formed by introducing external forces, such as magnetic, electric, or mechanical forces, and ordered nanofibers can be collected. The microstructures of highly ordered nanofibers can be divided into three categories: uniaxially ordered nanofibers, biaxially ordered nanofibers and ordered scaffolds. The three microstructures are each characterized by being ordered in different dimensions. The regulation and control of the ordered microstructures can promote electrospun nanofibers' mechanical and dielectric strength, surface area and chemical properties. Highly ordered electrospun nanofibers have more comprehensive applications than disordered nanofibers do in effect transistors, gas sensors, reinforced composite materials and tissue engineering. This review also intensively summarizes the applications of highly ordered nanofibers in the sensor field, such as pressure sensors, humidity sensors, strain sensors, gas sensors, and biosensors.

High-performance filter membrane composed of oxidized Poly (arylene sulfide sulfone) nanofibers for the high-efficiency air filtration

In this study, a novel, oxidized poly (arylene sulfide sulfone) (O-PASS) nanofibrous membrane filter was successfully fabricated for the effective removal of particulate matter. PASS was electrospun into a nanofibrous membrane with an average nanofiber diameter of 0.31 µm and basis weight of 3 g/m². These specifications were chosen as they showed high particulate matter removal efficiency (99.98%), low pressure drop (68 Pa), and high quality factor Q_F (0.125 Pa^-1). In addition, the filtration mechanism of the PASS nanofibrous membrane was intuitively revealed by simulating the intercepted particular distributions and motion paths of particles. After a simple oxidation treatment, the O-PASS nanofibrous membrane was successfully built up. The microstructure and morphology showed little change compared with the PASS nanofiber, but the oxidation treatment significantly improved the mechanical properties of the membrane from 1.51 MPa to 4.92 MPa. More importantly, the O-PASS nanofibrous membrane still exhibited high removal efficiency after high temperature, acid, alkali, or organic solvent treatments. Overall, O-PASS nanofibrous membranes are promising high-performance filter materials with high temperature and corrosion resistance.

Mechanical Considerations for Electrospun Nanofibers in Tendon and Ligament Repair

Electrospun nanofibers possess unique qualities such as nanodiameter, high surface area to volume ratio, biomimetic architecture, and tunable chemical and electrical properties. Numerous studies have demonstrated the potential of nanofibrous architecture to direct cell morphology, migration, and more complex biological processes such as differentiation and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition through topographical guidance cues. These advantages have created great interest in electrospun fibers for biomedical applications, including tendon and ligament repair. Electrospun nanofibers, despite their nanoscale size, generally exhibit poor mechanical properties compared to larger conventionally manufactured polymer fiber materials. This invites the question of what role electrospun polymer nanofibers can play in tendon and ligament repair applications that have both biological and mechanical requirements. At first glance, the strength and stiffness of electrospun nanofiber grafts appear to be too low to fill the rigorous loading conditions of these tissues. However, there are a number of strategies to enhance and tune the mechanical properties of electrospun nanofiber grafts. As researchers design the next-generation electrospun tendon and ligament grafts, it is critical to consider numerous physiologically relevant mechanical criteria and to evaluate graft mechanical performance in conditions and loading environments that reflect in vivo conditions and surgical fixation methods.

A novel and facile approach to fabricate a conductive and biomimetic fibrous platform with sub-micron and micron features

A novel and facile method to fabricate a core–shell structure consisting of a conducting fiber core and an electrospun fiber shell is presented.

Poly (vinylidene fluoride) / Poly (acrylonitrile)-based Superior Hydrophobic Piezoelectric Solid Derived by Aligned Carbon Nanotube in Electrospinning: Fabrication, the Phase Conversion and Surface Energy

Multifunctional materials have attracted many interests from both fundamental and practical aspects, such as field-effect transistor, electric protection, transducers and biosensor. Here we demonstrated the first superior hydrophobic piezoelectric surface based on the polymer blend of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-polyacrilonitrile (PAN) assisted with functionalized multiwalled nanotubes (MWNTs), by a modified electrospinning method. Typically the β-phase polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) was considered as the excellent piezoelectric and pyroelectric materials. However, polar β-phase of PVDF exhibited a natural high hydrophilicity. As a well-known fact, the wettability of the surface is dominated by two major factors: surface composition and surface roughness. The significant conversions derived by the incorporation of MWNTs, from nonpolar α-phase to highly polar β-phase of PVDF, were confirmed by FTIR. Meanwhile, the effects of MWNTs on the improvement of the roughness and the hydrophobicity of polymer blend were evaluated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle (CA). Molar free energy of wetting of the polymer nanocomposite decreases with increasing the wt.% of MWNTs. All molar free energy of wetting of PVDF-PAN/MWNTs were negative, which means the non-wettability of film. The combination of surface roughness and low-surface-energy modification in nanostructured composites leads to high hydrophobicity. Particularly, fabrication of superior hydrophobic surfaces not only has fundamental interest but also various possible functional applications in micro- and nano-materials and devices.

Eletrofiação de polímeros em solução: parte II: aplicações e perspectivas

Em artigo de revisão anterior[1], o processo de eletrofiação foi discutido, incluindo suas bases teóricas e experimentais, e a obtenção de diferentes nanofibras de materiais poliméricos. Neste segundo artigo de revisão, são abordados os aspectos relacionados à aplicação de materiais eletrofiados em diferentes áreas, como médica, agrícola, sensores, processamento de outros materiais, entre outras. São também discutidas as técnicas de caracterização utilizadas mais frequentemente nestes materiais, e suas potencialidades. Esta segunda revisão é complementar à anterior e segue, em seus aspectos gerais, a mesma terminologia.