Nanoprocessing of polymers: applications in medicine, sensors, catalysis, photonics

Abstract

Nanofibers and nanotubes based on polymers offer a broad range of applications in areas such as photonics, sensorics, catalysis or medicine and pharmacy. A set of preparation techniques which allow to introduce simultaneous specific functions into such nanoobjects has been developed recently. These include electrospinning and co‐electrospinning of nanofibers as well as template methods utilizing eletrospun nanofibers or porous substrates. These techniques yield infinitively long nanofibers and nanotubes with well defined aspect ratios respectively with diameters down to a few ten nanometers. These nanofibers and nanotubes can be functionalised, among others by using biodegradable materials or via the incorporation of nanoparticles or precursor molecules, in such a way that applications for tissue engineering, for catalysis, photonics and sensorics become available. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Osteoblast, fibroblast and in vivo biological response to poly(vinylidene fluoride) based composite materials

“…Among these, polymer based materials have confirmed to be a good choice as biomaterials in tissue engineering applications, smart prostheses, and sensors, among others [1,2]. In the last years, the potential of electro active polymers has been recognized for biomedical applications due to its ability to convert mechanical, thermal, or magnetic signals into electrical ones.…”

Electrospun Polyurethane Fibers for Absorption of Volatile Organic Compounds from Air

“…[19][20][21] Electrospun fibers have been investigated widely [22][23][24] for medical sensors and photonics, 25 41 Due to the high permeability of water vapor at high temperatures and considerably lower permeability capacity at lower temperatures, these polyurethanes are being coated onto various materials to produce breathable fabrics. 43 Biofilters packed with polyurethane foams inoculated with a mixed microbial population were used successfully to adsorb and degrade toluene.…”

Electrospun Metallic Nanofibers Fabricated by Electrospinning and Metallization

“…The design and development of electrospun fibers with sub-micrometer diameters from various kinds of materials has gained significant attention due to their large potential for manifold applications in electronics, optics, medicine, sensors, separation, storage, and so forth [49,50]. The polymer fibers with sub-micrometer diameters down to a few nanometers can be prepared by electrospinning, which is a quick and facile technique to create highsurface-area fiber membranes where the fibers are several orders of magnitude smaller than those produced by conventional spinning techniques [51].…”