Melt electrospinning is a cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and safer alternative to solution electrospinning. We have designed a novel melt spinning device which incorporates a reverse of the normal polarity, with the capillary grounded and the collector grid at positive potential. The apparatus is much simpler and more economical than conventional equipment because no syringe pump is required. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) with a low-melt flow index of 2 g/10 min, which is not suitable for spinning using current commercial methods, was chosen to highlight the advantages of melt electrospinning in general, and our device in particular. The effects of varying the electrospinning parameters such as temperature, electrostatic field, spinning distance, and capillary inner diameter, have been studied. Although it was found that temperatures higher than normal processing temperatures had to be employed in our electrospinning system to reduce the viscosity of the polymer melt sufficiently, good quality fibers with smooth and even surfaces, most of which had diameters smaller than 15 lm, were electrospun successfully. It was observed that there was an optimum point for the spinning distance (14-15 cm) and the capillary inner diameter (0.4-0.6 mm) to get fine fiber.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an effective desalination technique offering an appropriate route to obtain clean water. In order to obtain excellent CDI performance, a rationally designed structure of electrode materials has been an urgent need for CDI application. In this work, a novel graphene sponge (GS) was proposed as CDI electrode for the first time. The GS was fabricated via directly freeze-drying graphene oxide solution followed by annealing in nitrogen atmosphere. The morphology, structure and electrochemical performance of GS were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The electrosorption performance of GS in NaCl solution was studied and compared with pristine graphene (PG). The results show that due to the unique 3D interconnected porous structure, large accessible surface area and low charge transfer resistance, GS electrode exhibits an ultrahigh electrosorption capacity of 14.9 mg g−1 when the initial NaCl concentration is ~500 mg L−1, which is about 3.2 times of that of PG (4.64 mg g−1), and to our knowledge, it should be the highest value reported for graphene electrodes in similar experimental conditions by now. These results indicate that GS should be a promising candidate for CDI electrode.

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Porous carbon polyhedra (PCP) were prepared through direct carbonization of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 and used as an electrode material for capacitive deionization. The results show that PCP treated at 1200 °C exhibit the highest electrosorption capacity of 13.86 mg g(-1) when the initial NaCl concentration is 500 mg l(-1), due to their high accessible surface area and low charge transfer resistance.

A new bottom-up gas-jet electrospinning process for mass production is presented. A bubble-induced cone on the surface of polymer solution is equivalent to the Taylor cone in traditional electrospinning, which is a must for producing nanoflbers. In this study bubbles are produced by compressed air or nitrogen through a nozzle settled in the bottom of the solution. Multiple jets are observed during the electrospinning process as predicted for it is easy to many bubble-induced cones on the solution surface. The new electrospinning mechanism can be used for mass production of nanoflbers.