Processing Biopolymer Nanofibers and Composites

In this presentation, an introduction to biopolymer electrospinning process, as well as an overview of applications of nanofibrous biopolymer mats and their composites created by both a traditional and modified electrospinning process will be discussed. Electrospinning is a fabrication technique, which can be used to create nanofibrous non-wovens from a variety of starting polymer materials. The structure, chemical and mechanical stability, functionality, and other properties of the mats can be modified to match end applications. Composite nanofibers created with one-, two- and three- dimensional materials add functionality to the electrospun polymer mat. 

Nanoyarn electrospinning is a modified electrospinning set-up that continuously produces twisted nanofiber yarns. While nanoyarns of synthetic polymers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN) have been produced and turned into textile structures, much is still to be done for naturally derived polymer solutions. Natural polymers are desired over synthetic polymers in many applications due to being non-toxic, biodegradable, and often biocompatible. They are used specifically in biomedical applications because they are recognized by the body and channeled into metabolic degradation and so will typically not cause chronic immunological reactions that are found with synthetic polymers. Novel nanoyarns made with a variety of natural polymers including sodium alginate, gelatin, collagen, and polyhydroxybutyrate have been created.