Facile Synthesis of Porous Silicon Nanofibers by Magnesium Reduction for Application in Lithium Ion Batteries.

We report a facile fabrication of porous silicon nanofibers by a simple three-stage procedure. Polymer/silicon precursor composite nanofibers are first fabricated by electrospinning, a water-based spinning dope, which undergoes subsequent heat treatment and then reduction using magnesium to be converted into porous silicon nanofibers. The porous silicon nanofibers are coated with a graphene by using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for use as an anode material of lithium ion batteries.

Fabrication, characterization, and in vitro biological activities of melt-electrospun PLA micro/nanofibers for bone tissue regeneration.

To examine the solvent-free effect in electrospun micro/nanofibers on cellular activities, melt-electrospun poly(lactic acid) (PLA) micro/nanofibers with a diameter of 1.5 ± 0.8 μm and a randomly distributed mesh structure were successfully fabricated with a gas-assisted melt-electrospinning system.

Preparation and characterization of amphiphilic triblock terpolymer-based nanofibers as antifouling biomaterials.

Antifouling surfaces are critical for the good performance of functional materials in various applications including water filtration, medical implants, and biosensors. In this study, we synthesized amphiphilic triblock terpolymers (tri-BCPs, coded as KB) and fabricated amphiphilic nanofibers by electrospinning of solutions prepared by mixing the KB with poly(lactic acid) (PLA) polymer. The resulting fibers with amphiphilic polymer groups exhibited superior antifouling performance to the fibers without such groups.

Functionalized electrospun nanofibers as bioseparators in microfluidic systems.

Functionalized electrospun nanofibers were integrated into microfluidic channels to serve as on-chip bioseparators. Specifically, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber mats were shown to successfully serve as bioseparators for negatively charged nanoparticles. Nanofibers were electrospun onto gold microelectrodes, which were incorporated into poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microfluidic devices using UV-assisted thermal bonding.

Metal nanofibers with highly tunable electrical and magnetic properties via highly loaded water-based electrospinning.

Nanofibers are synthesized by electrospinning highly loaded water-based precursor-polymer hybrid solutions followed by thermal treatment to control crystal structure. Electrical conductivity and magnetic coercivity, as shown, are tested displaying independent magnetic and electrical property control from coercive to superparamagnetic and resistive to near-bulk conductivity at room temperature.

Characterizing zeta potential of functional nanofibers in a microfluidic device.

The measurement of surface charge on nanofibers was achieved by characterizing zeta potential of the nanofibers via a newly developed device for streaming current measurement. Low flow rates were sufficient to generate detectable streaming currents in the absence of an externally applied voltage without damaging nanofiber samples. Zeta potential was calculated by using the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski equation and the measured streaming currents.