In modern society, traffic and transportation and the manufacturing industry and construction industries continuously release large amounts of dust and particles into the atmosphere, which can cause heavy air pollution, leading to health hazards. The haze disaster, a serious problem in developing countries such as China and India, has become one of the main issues of global environmental pollution in recent decades. Many air filtration technologies have been developed. Air filtration using electrospun fibers that intercept fine particles/volatile organic gases/bacterium is a relatively new, but highly promising, technique. Due to their interconnected nanoscale pore structures, highly specific surface areas, fine diameters, and porous structure as well as their ability to incorporate active chemistry on a nanoscale surface, electrospun fibers are becoming a promising versatile platform for air filtration. In this review, following a short introduction concerning the need for air filtration and filtration theory and mechanism, electrospun nanofibers membranes for air filtration have been highlighted, including the preparation (electrospinning process) and the parameters relevant to filtration efficacy. Additionally, various types (function) of the electrospun air filtration membranes have been classified in detail. Furthermore, their potential in the filtration of fine particles and chemical pollutants has been discussed. Finally, the challenges of their practical application and the future prospects have been summarized. Given that some advanced electrospun air filtration nanofibrous membranes exist for treating different contaminants from various types of polluted atmosphere, it is believed that they should make a significant contribution in protection against air pollution.
Interventions and policies for tackling air pollution issues exist and have been proven to be effective. Membrane materials of nanofibrous morphology are attractive for air filtration, and further alleviate the environmental issues. Electrospinning as a simple and versatile way to fabricate ultrafine fibers has been attracting tremendous attention. Herein, the recent researches and future trends of green electrospinning are expounded from the aspects of green degradable materials, green solution electrospinning, and solvent‐free electrospinning. The green degradable materials, including biomass materials, biosynthetic polymer materials, and chemical synthetic materials are reviewed. Following the concept of green electrospinning, electrospun polymer nanofibers via aqueous solution are discussed; additionally, further trends of solvent‐free electrospinning including melt‐electrospinning, anion‐curing electrospinning, UV‐curing electrospinning, thermo‐curing electrospinning, and supercritical CO2‐assisted electrospinning are highlighted. Furthermore, the applications of these electrospun nanofibrous membranes in the field of air filtration are discussed. In the end, the challenges of green electrospinning and future prospects are summarized. The development of green electrospinning is reviewed with an emphasis on current advanced solvent‐free research, where electrospun nanofibrous membranes are contributing to promising treatment strategies to solve environment issue.
With the rapid advancement in artificial intelligence, wearable electronic skins have attracted substantial attention. However, the fabrication of such devices with high elasticity and breathability is still a challenge and highly desired. Here, a route to develop an all-fiber structured electronic skin with a scalable electrospinning fabrication technique is reported. The fabricated electronic skin is demonstrated to exhibit high pressure sensing with a sensitivity of 0.18 V kPa −1 in the detection range of 0-175 kPa. This wearable device could maintain prominent sensing performance and mechanical stability in the presence of large deformation, even when the elastic deformation is up to 50%. The electronic skin is easily conformable on different desired objects for real-time spatial mapping and long-term tactile sensing. Besides, it possesses high gas permeability with a water vapor transmittance rate of 10.26 kg m −2 d −1 . More importantly, the electronic skin is capable of working in a self-powered manner and even serves as a reliable power source to effectively drive small electronics. Possessing several compelling features, such as high sensitivity, high elasticity, high breathability as well as being self-powered and scalable in fabrication, the presented device paves a pathway for smart electronic skins.
Highly conductive and stretchy fibers are crucial components for smart fabrics and wearable electronics. However, most of the existing fiber conductors are strain sensitive with deteriorated conductance upon stretching, and thus, a compromised strategy via introducing merely geometric distortion of conductive path is often used for stable conductance. Here, we report a coaxial wet-spinning process for continuously fabricating intrinsically stretchable, highly conductive yet conductance-stable, liquid metal sheath-core microfibers. The microfiber can be stretched up to 1170%, and upon fully activating the conductive path, a very high conductivity of 4.35 × 104 S/m and resistance change of only 4% at 200% strain are realized, arising from both stretch-induced channel opening and stretching out of tortuous serpentine conductive path of the percolating liquid metal network. Moreover, the microfibers can be easily woven into an everyday glove or fabric, acting as excellent joule heaters, electrothermochromic displays, and self-powered wearable sensors to monitor human activities.
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