Nanofiber Nonwovens: Production Technologies, Properties, and Applications

Nanofiber Nonwovens: Importance, Productions Technologies, Properties, and Applications
Gajanan Bhat and Rohit Uppal
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996
gbhat@utk.edu
Abstract
Nanotechnology is a life-saving innovation that serves as a boon to mankind. It has offered novel products, which have superior control over a wide range of applications. An area of promise has been the development of nanofibers, which have diameters in the range of ~100 nm. Nanofibers definitely hold great advantage over the microfibers in the domains of decontamination, filtration, scaffolds for tissue engineering and wound dressings. It is projected that the nanofiber market worldwide will be worth more than $1 trillion. The presentation will deliberate upon importance, production technologies and their bottlenecks, and properties, and applications of nanofiber nonwovens. State of the art, innovative and cost effective approach to produce nanofibers will also be discussed, through which one can produce nanofibers at production rates much higher than that of conventional electrospinning.