Superelastic and Fire-Retardant Nano-/Microfibrous Sponges for High-Efficiency Warmth Retention

Abstract

Warmth retention equipment for personal cold protection is highly demanded in freezing weather; however, most present warmth retention materials suffer from high thermal conductivity, weak mechanical properties, and strong flammability, resulting in serious security risks. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate nano-/microfibrous sponges with superelasticity, robust flame retardation, and effective warmth retention performance via direct electrospinning. The three-dimensional fluffy sponges with low volume density and high porosity are constructed by accurately regulating the relative humidity; meanwhile, the mechanically robust polyamide-imide nanofibers with high limit oxygen index (LOI) are innovatively introduced to improve the structural stability and flammability of the nano-/microfibrous sponges. Strikingly, the developed nano-/microfibrous sponges exhibit ultralight characteristics (6.9 mg cm–3), superelasticity (∼0% plastic deformation after 100 compression tests), effective flame retardant with LOI of 26.2%, and good heat preservation ability (thermal conductivity of 24.6 mW m–1 K–1). This work may shed light on designing superelastic and flame-retardant warmth retention materials for various applications.

Novel piezoelectric properties of electrospun polyamide-imide nanofiber membranes

“…PAI has excellent mechanical strength, thermal stability, high glass-transition temperature (275 °C), and chemical resistance, 24 making it promising for many high-tech applications. 25,26 However, the piezoelectric properties of PAI have not been reported in previous literature.…”

Eco-Friendly Fabrication of Highly Stable Silica Aerogel Microspheres with Core–Shell Structure

“…The voids in the network structure of silica aerogels account for more than 90% of the whole volume. Although silica aerogels are widely used in aerospace vehicles [6][7][8], civil buildings [9,10], clothes [11,12], environmental purification materials [13], and drug delivery systems [14][15][16][17], their characteristics that are not conducive to ductility lead to poor mechanical properties for silica aerogel monoliths. This makes their direct use or hybridization with other materials difficult, which seriously limits the application of silica aerogel in many fields [18][19][20][21].…”

Styrene–butadiene–styrene-based stretchable electrospun nanofibers by carbon nanotube inclusion

“…[4][5][6][7][8] Electrospun polymer nanofibers can be used in sensor applications as their effective sensing surface area increases with decreasing fiber diameter. [9][10][11][12] The tunable polymer composite chemistry and functionality of the fiber material allow for exploring different applications, i.e., filtration media for wastewater management, 13 photocatalytic degradation of pollutants, 14 fire protection materials, 15 volatile organic compounds and oxidative gases. 16 Recent progress in electrospun nanomaterials includes more sensitive and selective nanosensors for acoustic waves and resistive, photoelectric, optical, and amperometric types.…”