NANOFIBERS FOR APPLICATIONS IN MEMS ,

NANOTECHNOLOGY ,

BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE 

 

•High tensile strength stronger than steel (on weight basis )

•High extensibility comparable to rubber (elasticity)

NANOFIBERS (Definition)

NANOFIBERS

Electrospinning of Polymers

3000

0 V

olt

Electrospinning of nanofibers

30,000 Volt

SEM image of electrospun PET fibers. Fiber diameters are in the range of 1.5 - 4

10 micron

Electron micrograph of 300 nm polybenzimidazole

nanofibers

Woven polyester shirt fabric

Nanofibers have large surface area per gram

Research Goals:

*Investigation of Nanofibers Mechanical Properties

*Advanced process control – “writing with fiber”

Potential Uses of nanofibers

Protective Clothing

Solar Sail Comet

Solar sail freight arriving on Mars

Leaf with nanofiberscontaining pesticide

Nanofibers as a physical barrier to insects

Bridge with nanofibers (Dupont)

Fiber Optic - nanofibers

Braid of aligned nanofibers. Density100nfs/m2

Several aligned nanofibers

Nanofiber after burnout

Super conductive nanofibers (Poly- acrylic acid + Salts)

Conductive nanofibers (PEDOT/PEO)

Current-Voltage Response

Nanofiber nonwoven fabric

Soft-tissue biomedical applications

A microelectrode records the firing of individual cells in a monkey's visual cortex