Nanofiber application areas nanocomposites

Polythiophene derivates are polymers of great interest, widely used in organic electronics. Thus, the utilization of polythiophene nanofibers could open the path to the development of nanostructured organic electronics with a high surface area for a range of applications. El-Aufy, in his PhD thesis, studied poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene)/ poly(styrenesulfonate) PEDOT/PSS nanofibers and nanocomposites using PAN as a... 

During the past decades, nanotechnology has attracted great attention due to its marvellous potential applications in numerous areas [90]. Polymer nanocomposite is a unique addition in the nanotechnology family. In polymer nanocomposite, one phase is dispersed in another phase in nanometer level [19]. Different types of reinforcing fillers such as sodium montmo-rillonite, sodium bentonite, layered double hydroxide, exfohated graphite, fullerene, carbon nanofiber, and carbon nanotube have been successfully used in the preparation of polymer nanocomposites [19]. Recently,... 

Non-destructive surface-functionalization of carbon nanofibers can be achieved by using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) since PEDOT is an electron donor and carbon nanofiber is an electron acceptor [40]. PEDOT/carbon nanofiber nanocomposites can be prepared by chemical polymerization process. This includes an initial adsorption of EDOT monomers on the carbon nanofibers, which is followed by the polymerization process. The adsorption of monomers on the fiber surface occurs due to the electrostatic n-n interaction. PEDOT poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT PSS)/carbon nanofiber bilayer system is used particularly for electrode applications [41]. Such bilayer systems can be easily prepared with dip-coating technique.The advantage of dip-coating is that only a small amount of polymer will be adsorbed on the carbon nanofiber surface and hence nanometer thick coating is achievable. The surface area of electroactive materials can be enhanced in such bilayer systems prepared with carbon nanofibers. 

Nanocomposite describes a two-phase material where one of the phases has at least one dimension in the nanometer range (1-100 nm). They differ from conventional composites by the exceptionally high surface-to-volume ratio of the reinforcing phase and/ or its exceptionally high aspect ratio. The reinforcing material can be made up of particles (e.g., minerals), sheets (e.g., exfoliated clay stacks) or fibers (e.g., carbon nanotubes, electrospun fibers or cellulose nanofibers). Large reinforcement surface area means that a relatively small amount of nanoscale reinforcement can have an observable effect on the macroscale properties of the composite. There has been enormous interest in the commercialization of nanocomposites for a variety of applications, and a number of... 

PLA nanocomposites with TiOj nanoparticles [288], nanoclays [289], hydroxyapatite [290-293], and glass nanofibers [294] have also been produced and their promising application in pharmacology and biomedical engineering areas pointed out. 

Electrospun mats have a larger specific surface area and smaller pore size compared to commercial nonwoven fabrics. They are of interest in a wide variety of applications, including semi-permeable membranes, nanocomposites, filters, protective clothing and biomedical applications such as wound dressings, tissue engineering scaffolds, and drug delivery systems. Recently, unidirectional-like nanofiber mats fabricated by control collector speed were reported and a high mechanical property was obtained. ... 

---