Electrospinning of Nanomaterials and Applications in Electronic Components and Devices

Abstract

Electrospinning of nanomaterial composites are gaining increased interest in the fabrication of electronic components and devices. Performance improvement of electrospun components results from the unique properties associated with nanometer-scaled features, high specific surface areas, and light-weight designs. Electrospun nanofiber membrane-containing polymer electrolytes show improved ionic conductivity, electrochemical stability, low interfacial resistance, and improved charge-discharge performance than those prepared from conventional membranes. Batteries with non-woven electrospun separators have increased cycle life and higher rate capabilities than ones with conventional separators. Electrospun nanofibers may also be used as working electrodes in lithium-ion batteries, where they exhibit excellent rate capability, high reversible capacity, and good cycling performance. Moreover, the high surface area of electrospun activated carbon nanofibers improves supercapacitor energy density. Similarly, nanowires having quasi-one-dimensional structures prepared by electrospinning show high conductivity and have been used in ultra-sensitive chemical sensors, optoelectronics, and catalysts. Electrospun conductive polymers can also perform as flexible electrodes. Finally, the thin, porous structure of electrospun nanofibers provides for the high strain and fast response required for improved actuator performance. The current review examines recent advances in the application of electrospinning in fabricating electronic components and devices.

Electrospinning for nano- to mesoscale photonic structures

“…One-dimensional micro-and nano-fiber devices have been prepared using ES [211][212][213][214][215][216][217][218][219], hard and soft template-assisted methods [220][221][222], self-assembly [223][224][225], scanning probe lithography (direct writing) [226][227][228], direct drawing [229,230], nanoimprint lithography [131], nanofluidics [231], and physical vapor transport and deposition [232]. Review articles of these methods have been published by Kim et al [36] and Long et al [233].…”

Carbon nanofibers prepared from electrospun polyimide, polysulfone and polyacrylonitrile nanofibers by ion-beam irradiation

“…The rapidly developing technique of electrospinning provides a cost-effective approach to preparing fibers with nanometer-scale diameters for application in electronic components and devices. [8][9][10][11][12] We have succeeded in preparing uniform non-beaded nanofibers with diameters of B30 nm by controlling the processing parameters, including applied voltage, feed rate, electrospinning humidity, and polymer solution viscosity and electrical conductivity. 13,14 The productivity of nanofibers by the electrospinning method is sufficiently high to supply industrial applications by using non-nozzle type spinnerets and/or rotary drum collectors.…”

A Core@sheath Nanofibrous Separator for Lithium Ion Batteries Obtained by Coaxial Electrospinning

“…Electrospun membranes of polymeric electrolytes or separators were shown to improve ionic conductivity and electrochemical performance when compared to those commercialized separators. [23] Their performance enhancement is originated from the homogeneous and nano-scaled morphology. Since Locertales et al initially proposed a coaxial electrospinning technique for the preparation of core@sheath nanofibers in 2002, [24] composite nanofibers with a core@sheath structure have gained increasing attention in the fields [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] such as light-guiding nanofibers, [26] conductive nanofibers, [31] drug delivery carriers [28,30] and phase change systems.…”