In this study, we report for the first time a novel silk fibroin (SF) nanofibrous films with robust mechanical properties that was fabricated by directly dissolving silk in CaCl2-formic acid solution. CaCl2-FA dissolved silk rapidly at room temperature, and more importantly, it disintegrated silk into nanofibrils instead of separate molecules. The morphology of nanofibrils crucially depended on CaCl2 concentrations, which resulted in different aggregation nanostructure in SF films. The SF film after drawing had maximum elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength, and strain at break reaching 4 GPa, 106 MPa, and 29%, respectively, in dry state and 206 MPa, 28 MPa, and 188%, respectively, in wet state. Moreover, multiple yielding phenomena and substantially strain-hardening behavior was also observed in the stretched films, indicating the important role played by preparation method in regulating the mechanical properties of SF films. These exceptional and unique mechanical properties were suggested to be caused by preserving silk nanofibril during dissolution and stretching to align these nanofibrils. Furthermore, the SF films exhibit excellent biocompatibility, supporting marrow stromal cells adhesion and proliferation. The film preparation was facile, and the resulting SF films manifested enhanced mechanical properties, unique nanofibrous structures, and good biocompability.

Here we show an intriguing phenomenon in the bubble electrospinning process that the ruptured film might be stripped upwards by an electronic force to form a very thin and long plate-like strip, which might been received in the metal receiver as discontinuous backbone-like wrinkled materials, rather than smooth nano-fibers or microspheres. The processes are called the bubble electrospinning. The electronic force can be replaced by a blowing air, and the process is called as the blown bubble spinning. We demonstrate that the size and thickness of the ruptured film are the crucial parameters that are necessary to understand the various observations including beads and nanoporous materials. We identify the conditions required for a ruptured film to form discontinuous structure, and a critical width of the ruptured film to form a cylindrical fiber, above which a long and thin plate-like strip might be obtained, and a criterion for oscillatory jet diameter, which leads to bead morphology of the obtained fibers. The space of the adjacent beads depends on the fiber size. We anticipate our assay to be a starting point for more sophisticated study of the bubble electrospinning and the blown bubble spinning and for mass-production of both nanofibers and nanoscale discontinuous materials

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Three-dimensional (3D) printing continuous carbon fiber-reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) composites offer excellent tensile mechanical properties. The present study aimed to research the effect of process parameters on the tensile mechanical properties of 3D printing composite specimens through a series of mechanical experiments. The main printing parameters, including layer height, extrusion width, printing temperature, and printing speed are changed to manufacture specimens based on the modified fused filament fabrication 3D printer, and the tensile mechanical properties of 3D printing continuous carbon fiber-reinforced PLA composites are presented. By comparing the outcomes of experiments, the results show that relative fiber content has a significant impact on mechanical properties and the ratio of carbon fibers in composites is influenced by layer height and extrusion width. The tensile mechanical properties of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composites gradually decrease with an increase of layer height and extrusion width. In addition, printing temperature and speed also affect the fiber matrix interface, i.e., tensile mechanical properties increase as the printing temperature rises, while the tensile mechanical properties decrease when the printing speed increases. Furthermore, the strengthening mechanism on the tensile mechanical properties is that external loads subjected to the components can be transferred to the carbon fibers through the fiber-matrix interface. Additionally, SEM images suggest that the main weakness of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced 3D printing composites exists in the fiber-matrix interface, and the main failure is the pull-out of the fiber caused by the interface destruction.

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