Electrospun Nanomaterials: Biotechnology, Food, Water, Environment, and Energy

Abstract

Over the past decade, electrospinning and electrospraying techniques have become affordable platform techniques for growing numbers of students, researchers, academics, and businesses around the world, producing organic and inorganic nanofibres and nanoparticles for a range of purposes. This review illustrates various advances in the science and engineering of electrospun nanomaterials and their applicability in meeting the growing needs within five crucial sectors: clean water, environment, energy, healthcare, and food. Although most of these sectors are principally dominated by synthetic polymer systems, the emergence of natural polymer and hybrid natural-synthetic electrospun polymer systems offers particular advantages. Current scientific and materials engineering advancements have resulted in highly competitive nanofibre, electrospun products, offering credible solutions to real-world applications.

Preparation of electrospun nanofibers from solutions of different gelatin types using a benign solvent mixture composed of water/PBS/ethanol

“…Although electrospinning is a quite old technique based on the application of a high voltage electrostatic field between a capillary syringe, containing a polymer solution, and a grounded collector where the polymer fibers are deposited, in recent years numerous reports have proposed their use for the development of applications in several fields such as biomedical, pharmaceutical, biotechnological and environmental engineering .…”

Integration of Emerging Biomedical Technologies in Meat Processing to Improve Meat Safety and Quality

“…The use of natural polymers to construct medical devices has significant advantages over other materials as polymers are generally more compatible and less toxic to living tissue, are biodegradeable, and can have proliferative capabilities (Doyle, Choudhari, Ramakrishna, & Babu, ; Ma, ). In the past, fabrication of natural polymers into sheets or fibers has been difficult.…”

“…In the past, fabrication of natural polymers into sheets or fibers has been difficult. However, the continuing development of electrohydrodynamic processing techniques, such as electrospinning and electrospraying, has made the use of natural and hybrid polymers in medicine a feasible option (Doyle et al., ; Ma, ). Electrospinning involves passing a polymer dissolved in a solvent through a fine electroconductive needle.…”

“…The solvent in the jet stream evaporates mid‐flight which leaves the solubilized particles to form uniform nano‐fibers on the collector (Figure ). Hundreds of thousands of these fibers, which range in size from 50 to 500 nm stack on top of each other giving the material great compressive and tensile strength as well as a large surface area (Doyle et al., ; Ma, ). Additionally, electrospinning can be performed without the use of high temperatures or denaturing chemicals (Cheng, Jun, Qin, & Lee, ), which means that large molecules, such as carbohydrates and protein‐based polymers can be used to fabricate the material without denaturing the molecules in the production process.…”

Electrospun cellulose acetate and poly(vinyl chloride) nanofiber mats containing silver nanoparticles for antifungi packaging

“…Electrospinning is a simple and very popular method of fabricating nanofiber mats. This technique allows for high volume production of extremely lightweight and highly functional nanofiber mats having uniform morphology and with extensive applications [10]. It is a relatively easy and cost effective technique that requires simple tooling and setup [11].…”