What are the properties of nanofibers?
Nanofibers are long polymeric filaments, which exhibits the ideal advantages in high porosity, high surface area, high encapsulation efficiency, and controllable morphology, high chemical and thermal stability. The properties of nanofibres could significantly influence the polymeric raw material.
Why is electrospinning important?
The important advantages of electrospinning technique are the production of very thin fibers to the order of few nanometers with large surface areas, ease of functionalisation for various purposes, superior mechanical properties and ease of process as suggested by many experts in this field.
What are nanofibers made of?
The Synthetic polymer nanofibers are made from nylon, acrylic, polycarbonate, polysulfones, and fluropolymers among other polymers. The biological polymer nanofibers are made from materials such as polycaprolactum, chitosan, polylactic acid, and copolymer of polylactic/glycolic acid among other biopolymers.
What is cellulose nanofibers?
Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) are extremely thin cellulose fibers made from wood material. Nanocellulose fibers are as thin as a few nanometers. They are known to have a unique type of viscosity, to be transparent, lightweight, and strong durable, and to change very little in shape due to temperature fluctuations.
What is the difference between electrospinning and Electrospraying?
The difference between electrospinning and electrospraying techniques is based on the concentration of the polymer solution. When the solution concentration is high, the jet from Taylor cone is stabilized, and elongation takes place by whipping instability mechanism.
What is polymer electrospinning?
Electrospinning is a fiber production method which uses electric force to draw charged threads of polymer solutions or polymer melts up to fiber diameters in the order of some hundred nanometers. The process does not require the use of coagulation chemistry or high temperatures to produce solid threads from solution.
Which process is widely used to create nanofibers?
Electrospinning
Electrospinning, also called electrostatic spinning, is the most common method used to produce nanofibers. In which fibers with submicron diameter can be produced with this mechanical and electrical technique using a power supply with high voltage.
Can nanocellulose replace plastic?
Nanocellulose is a unique material that can potentially be used for many different applications, from replacing plastic in packaging, to helping the body to repair damaged tissue or extracting more oil from oil wells.
How are nanofibers used in the biomedical field?
Application of nanofibers has a promising future in the biomedical field as well as in postoperative local chemotherapy [62,63]. Thus, having unique properties, nanofibers can be used as a smart polymeric nanoparticle for drug delivery in cancer cells [64].
What kind of fibers are used in nanofibers?
The commonly used fibers are: nylon, polyacrylonitrile, polystyrene, polycarbonate, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and water-soluble polymers. Nanofibers exhibit potential to enhance aqueous solubility, biorecognition, and biocompatibility [48].
How is the potential of a nanofiber determined?
Effective modification in the diameter of the fibers will lead to increased potential of nanofibers. The percentage of polymer functional groups, exposed on the fiber surface, can be roughly predicted as 100 πd/D, where d represents the diameter of a polymer chain and D represents the diameter of fibers.
How big is the diameter of a polymer nanofiber?
Polymer nanofibers are a consequential class of nanomaterials. The diameter of nanofibers is less than 100 nm. Various fabrication techniques are used for synthesis of nanofibers, including electrospinning [33–38], phase separation [39], melt-blown [40,41], self-assembly [42], and template synthesis [43–45].