Chemistry on Electrospun Polymeric Nanofibers: Merely Routine Chemistry or a Real Challenge?

Abstract

Nanofiber-based non-wovens can be prepared by electrospinning. The chemical modification of such nanofibers or chemistry using nanofibers opens a multitude of application areas and challenges. A wealth of chemistry has been elaborated in recent years on and with electrospun nanofibers. Known methods as well as new methods have been applied to modify the electrospun nanofibers and thereby generate new materials and new functionalities. This Review summarizes and sorts the chemistry that has been reported in conjunction with electrospun nanofibers. The major focus is on catalysis and nanofibers, enzymes and nanofibers, surface modification for biomedical and specialty applications, coatings of fibers, crosslinking, and bulk modifications. A critical focus is on the question: what could make chemistry on or with nanofibers different from bulk chemistry?

Antiviral and Antibacterial Polyurethanes of Various Modalities

“…Like with Quat-12-PU-coated surfaces tested in this study, these nanofibers were found to exhibit excellent antibacterial activities against both E. coli and S. aureus (Table 6): the log-reductions were close to 7.5 for both cells. With polymeric nanofibers having potential to be used in fabrics, filters, and medical devices [23,24], those made from Quat-12-PU would have an added benefit of being antimicrobial.…”

One‐step Electro‐spinning/netting Technique for Controllably Preparing Polyurethane Nano‐fiber/net

“…[8][9][10] Electrospun nanomaterials exhibit several amazing characteristics, such as remarkable specific surface area, flexibility in surface functionalities and superior mechanical performance. [11][12][13] Recently, many investigators have applied various measures to control this process in order to produce PU fibrous membranes with designed functions. [14][15][16] Demir et al [15] investigated the electrospinning process of PU fibers and demonstrated that the temperature, conductivity and viscosity of solution were the dominant factors controlling the fiber morphology.…”

Synthesis of amidoximated polyacrylonitrile fibers and its application for sorption of aqueous uranyl ions under continuous flow

“…A high surface area-to-volume ratio (which leads to high sorption capacity), porosity, and mechanical integrity are the benefits of electrospun fibers. The fibers also serve as substrates for functional groups upon surface modification [26,27]. They can thus be potentially used for sorption and desorption of metal ions.…”