Hierarchical Structured Electrospun Nanofibers for Improved Fog Harvesting Applications

Ganesh, V.; Ranganath, Anupama Sargur; Baji, Avinash; Raut, Hemant Kumar; Sahay, Rahul; Ramakrishna, Seeram

doi:10.1002/mame.201600387

Cited by 42 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Recent study by Seo et al demonstrated that fog harvesting ability of a sample is defined by its wettability . Most studies focus on harvesting fog using hydrophobic or superhydrophobic surfaces . However, existence of water droplets on these hydrophobic surfaces in the Cassie impregnating state affects the transport step in water collection.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We demonstrate that the water collection efficiency can be improved by introducing secondary structures on the surface of the fibers. PVDF is chosen as a core material because of its high mechanical stability, hydrophobicity, and chemical resistant behavior . PNIPAM is chosen to form beads on the surface of PVDF fibers due to its inherent hydrophilic nature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electrospun Bead‐On‐String Hierarchical Fibers for Fog Harvesting Application

Thakur

Ranganath

Agarwal

et al. 2017

Macro Materials & Eng

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extracted with the help of patterned hydrophilic/hydrophobic regions present on its back. [3][4][5] Cotula fallax, a plant from South Africa efficiently collects water from fog using its hierarchical 3D layout present on its leaves. [6] Pinus radiata and Casuarina equisetifolia, the tree canopies, are also capable of extracting water from air with the help of structures present on their leaves. [7][8][9] Researchers have also demonstrated that spider silk of certain species of spider has directional water collecting ability. This is attributed to the presence of periodic spindle knots on its fibers. [10][11][12][13][14] These mechanisms of harvesting water from humid air have inspired the researchers to mimic the structural design as well as geometry of natural materials. [15][16][17][18][19] Electrostatic spinning (electrospinning) has received a great deal of attention in the last two decades for its ability to fabricate ultrafine fibers that are useful for various applications. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Researchers have demonstrated that electrospinning can be used to fabricate fibers that resemble the structural geometry of natural materials. [27][28][29][30] For example, electrospinning is used to Quest for efficient fog harvesting methods has drawn immense attention in recent times. In this study, electrospinning is used to fabricate three different sets of membranes that are based on pristine poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) fibers, pristine polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibers, and PNIPAM-PVDF bead-on-string fibers. The wettability of these membranes is investigated as a function of temperature and the effect of their wettability on the fog collection efficiency is determined. Membranes based on pristine PNIPAM and pristine PVDF fibers are fabricated using conventional electrospinning and are shown to have a smooth surface morphology. On the other hand, PNIPAM-PVDF bead-on-string fibers are fabricated using core-shell electrospinning. Water collection efficiency of the membranes is compared to investigate the influence of microstructures and wettability gradient on fog harvesting ability of the samples. Among the three samples, the bead-on-string hierarchical fibrous membrane demonstrates the highest fog harvesting rate of 1150 ± 28 mg cm −2 h −1 at 25 °C and 909 ± 31 mg cm −2 h −1 at 40 °C. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the presence of microstructures on the nanofibers improve the fog harvesting efficiency of PNIPAM-PVDF bead-on-string fibers.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrospun Bead‐On‐String Hierarchical Fibers for Fog Harvesting Application

Thakur

Ranganath

Agarwal

et al. 2017

Macro Materials & Eng

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“…Zwitterionic SBMA‐MPOSS‐PMMA solution was prepared by dissolving equal amount (6 wt %) of PMMA/SBMA with 5 wt % of MPOSS and 0.2 wt % of AIBN in HFIP. PMMA was added to improve the electrospinnability (spray to spin transition) of SBMA‐MPOSS mixture and also to enhance the formation of uniform and smooth nanofibers . The homogenous mixture was then purged with nitrogen for 15 min and subjected to concurrent electrospinning.…”

Section: Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering silver‐zwitterionic composite nanofiber membrane for bacterial fouling resistance

Ganesh

Kundukad

Cheng

et al. 2019

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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Bacterial attachment and fouling compromise material performance in applications ranging from marine equipment and biomedical devices to water treatment systems. For membrane‐based water treatment systems, bacterial attachment and biofilm formation decrease water purification efficiency and reduces mechanical durability of the membranes. In this work, we present a concurrent electrospinning and copolymerization approach to engineer composite nanofiber membranes comprising of silver nanoparticle containing poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF‐HFP‐Ag) nanofibers and [copolymerized zwitterionic sulfobetaine methacrylate‐methacryl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane]‐poly(methyl methacrylate) nanofibers. We characterized the surface morphology, topography, material chemistry, and wettability of the nanofiber membranes with scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements. We then challenged these nonwoven membranes with two model microbes, Gram‐negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram‐positive Staphylococcus aureus, and found that the silver‐zwitterionic composite nanofiber membrane exhibited superior bacterial fouling resistance by reducing >90% of bacterial attachment when compared to neat PVDF‐HFP and PVDF‐HFP‐Ag nanofiber membranes. This study demonstrates that concurrent electrospinning enables free‐standing nanofiber membranes with sustained bacterial fouling resistance, with potential in applications in filtration and water treatment technologies for which antifouling strategies are imperative. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47580.

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“… 7 , 16 − 20 One of the most promising techniques is electrospinning combining electrical poling and mechanical stretching to produce a high content of the β-phase in PVDF. This fabrication process is often used in scaffold production for tissue engineering, 21 , 22 energy harvesting, 23 filtration, 24 water collection, 25 production of hydrophobic materials, 26 , 27 and many more. During the electrospinning process, the electric field applied to polymer solution introduces electrical polarization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Piezoelectricity of Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride Fibers for Energy Harvesting

Szewczyk

Gradys

Kim³

et al. 2020

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

188

131

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Piezoelectric polymers are promising energy materials for wearable and implantable applications for replacing bulky batteries in small and flexible electronics. Therefore, many research studies are focused on understanding the behavior of polymers at a molecular level and designing new polymer-based generators using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). In this work, we investigated the influence of voltage polarity and ambient relative humidity in electrospinning of PVDF for energy-harvesting applications. A multitechnique approach combining microscopy and spectroscopy was used to study the content of the β-phase and piezoelectric properties of PVDF fibers. We shed new light on β-phase crystallization in electrospun PVDF and showed the enhanced piezoelectric response of the PVDF fiber-based generator produced with the negative voltage polarity at a relative humidity of 60%. Above all, we proved that not only crystallinity but also surface chemistry is crucial for improving piezoelectric performance in PVDF fibers. Controlling relative humidity and voltage polarity increased the d 33 piezoelectric coefficient for PVDF fibers by more than three times and allowed us to generate a power density of 0.6 μW·cm –2 from PVDF membranes. This study showed that the electrospinning technique can be used as a single-step process for obtaining a vast spectrum of PVDF fibers exhibiting different physicochemical properties with β-phase crystallinity reaching up to 74%. The humidity and voltage polarity are critical factors in respect of chemistry of the material on piezoelectricity of PVDF fibers, which establishes a novel route to engineer materials for energy-harvesting and sensing applications.

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Hierarchical Structured Electrospun Nanofibers for Improved Fog Harvesting Applications

Cited by 42 publications

References 58 publications

Electrospun Bead‐On‐String Hierarchical Fibers for Fog Harvesting Application

Electrospun Bead‐On‐String Hierarchical Fibers for Fog Harvesting Application

Engineering silver‐zwitterionic composite nanofiber membrane for bacterial fouling resistance

Enhanced Piezoelectricity of Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride Fibers for Energy Harvesting

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