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Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications

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A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 45128

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Prof. Dr. Yu-Kaung Chang

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 243303, Taiwan
Interests: nanofibers; electrospinning; nanomaterials; nanobiotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Chien Wei Ooi

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Guest Editor

Advanced Engineering Platform, Monash Univeristy, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor 47500, Malaysia
Interests: bioprocess engineering; biomaterials; biomass valorization; polymer chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Dear Colleagues,

Electrospinning is a popular technique used in the preparation of nanofiber membranes. The electrospun nanofibrous membranes provide large surface-to-volume ratio, high mechanical robustness and excellent pore interconnectivity, making them highly versatile in many applications. In particular, they can serve as a powerful filtration matrix for wastewater treatment, desalination, gas separation, and recovery of valuable compounds. Other noteworthy applications of electrospun nanofibrous membranes include tissue engineering, packaging, energy generation and storage, as well as sensors. The performance of nanofiber membranes in these applications is governed by their chemical as well as physical properties such as hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, nanofiber morphology, membrane porosity and mechanical strength. The advances in material engineering has also unlocked the vast choice of materials for the fabrication of nanofibers, which can be used in the synthesis of nanofiber membranes with a wide variety of surface topography and morphology.

This Special Issue of “Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications” aims to report the latest developments in the design and application of nanofiber membranes in various fields. In this regard, authors are invited to contribute their most recent results on the fundamental or application aspects of nanofiber membranes. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the membrane fabrication, surface modification, membrane filtration, adsorption and purification of biological molecules, thermodynamic and kinetic studies of adsorption, membrane bioreactor design, simulation of adsorption process, and nanofiber membrane chromatography.

Prof. Dr. Yu-Kaung Chang
Prof. Dr. Ooi Chien Wei
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Fabrication of nanofiber membrane
Nanofiber membrane surface modification
Physical and chemical properties of nanofiber membrane
Applications of nanofiber membrane
Nanofiber membrane process
Nanofiber membrane chromatography

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 5919 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Studies of Protein Wastes Adsorption by Chitosan-Modified Nanofibers Decorated with Dye Wastes in Batch and Continuous Flow Processes: Potential Environmental Applications

by Dai-Lun Cai, Dinh Thi Hong Thanh, Pau-Loke Show, Su-Chun How, Chen-Yaw Chiu, Michael Hsu, Shir Reen Chia, Kuei-Hsiang Chen and Yu-Kaung Chang

Membranes 2022, 12(8), 759; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12080759 - 1 Aug 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2530

Abstract

In this study, reactive green 19 dye from wastewater was immobilized on the functionalized chitosan nanofiber membranes to treat soluble microbial proteins in biological wastewater. Polyacrylonitrile nanofiber membrane (PAN) was prepared by the electrospinning technique. After heat treatment, alkaline hydrolysis, and chemically grafted with chitosan to obtain modified chitosan nanofibers (P-COOH-CS), and finally immobilized with RG19 dye, dyed nanofibers were generated (P-COOH-CS-RG19). The synthesis of P-COOH-CS and P-COOH-CS-RG19 are novel materials for protein adsorption that are not deeply investigated currently, with each of the material functions based on their properties in significantly improving the adsorption efficiency. The nanofiber membrane shows good adsorption capacity and great recycling performance, while the application of chitosan and dye acts as the crosslinker in the nanofiber membrane and consists of various functional groups to enhance the adsorption of protein. The dyed nanofibers were applied for the batch adsorption of soluble protein (i.e., lysozyme), and the process parameters including chitosan’s molecular weight, coupling pH, chitosan concentration, dye pH, dye concentration, and lysozyme pH were studied. The results showed that the molecular weight of chitosan was 50 kDa, pH 5, concentration 0.5%, initial concentration of dye at 1 mg/mL dye and pH 12, lysozyme solution at 2 mg/mL at pH 8, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 1293.66 mg/g at a temperature of 318 K. Furthermore, thermodynamic, and kinetic studies suggested that the adsorption behavior of lysozyme followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The optimal adsorption and desorption conditions based on batch experiments were directly applied to remove lysozyme in a continuous operation. This study demonstrated the potential of dyed nanofibers as an efficient adsorbent to remove approximately 100% of lysozyme from the simulated biological wastewater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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22 pages, 9326 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Silver/Snail Mucous PVA Nanofibers: Electrospun Synthesis and Antibacterial and Wound Healing Activities

by Aalaa A. El-Attar, Hamdy B. El-Wakil, Ahmed H. Hassanin, Basant A. Bakr, Tahani M. Almutairi, Mohamed Hagar, Bassma H. Elwakil and Zakia A. Olama

Membranes 2022, 12(5), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12050536 - 20 May 2022

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4135

Abstract

Healthcare textiles are gaining great attention in the textile industry. Electrospun nanofibers are considered the golden soldiers due to their strength, flexibility, and eco-friendly properties. The present study aimed to evaluate the potency of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers loaded with newly biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) as a wound healing dressing. Chocolate-band snail (Eobania vermiculata) mucus (which is part of the Mollusca defense system) was used as a novel reducing and stabilizing agent. Data indicated the effectiveness of Eobania vermiculata’s mucus in silver nanoparticle synthesis after a 24 h incubation time. The biosynthesized AgNPs-SM showed a 13.15 nm particle size, −22.5 mV ζ potential, and 0.37 PDI, which proved the stability of the synthesized nanoparticles. Eobania vermiculata mucus and AgNPs-SM showed potent antibacterial activity, especially against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The electrospinning technique was applied in the fabrication of PVA/AgNPs-SM nanofibers, which were homogenous with a fine diameter of about 100–170 nm and showed a significantly high antimicrobial activity. In vitro and in vivo studies revealed that PVA/AgNPs-SM nanofibers were safe and efficiently enhanced the wound healing process (typical histological picture of the proliferative phase with compact and well aligned collagen fibers in the dermal tissue after 12 days) together with bacterial growth inhibition in the infected skin area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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23 pages, 4960 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study of Polycaprolactone Electrospun Fibers and Casting Films Enriched with Carbon and Nitrogen Sources and Their Potential Use in Water Bioremediation

by Daniella Alejandra Pompa-Monroy, Ana Leticia Iglesias, Syed Gulam Dastager, Meghana Namdeo Thorat, Amelia Olivas-Sarabia, Ricardo Valdez-Castro, Lilia Angélica Hurtado-Ayala, José Manuel Cornejo-Bravo, Graciela Lizeth Pérez-González and Luis Jesús Villarreal-Gómez

Membranes 2022, 12(3), 327; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12030327 - 15 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2987

Abstract

Augmenting bacterial growth is of great interest to the biotechnological industry. Hence, the effect of poly (caprolactone) fibrous scaffolds to promote the growth of different bacterial strains of biological and industrial interest was evaluated. Furthermore, different types of carbon (glucose, fructose, lactose and galactose) and nitrogen sources (yeast extract, glycine, peptone and urea) were added to the scaffold to determinate their influence in bacterial growth. Bacterial growth was observed by scanning electron microscopy; thermal characteristics were also evaluated; bacterial cell growth was measured by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry at 600-nm. Fibers produced have an average diameter between 313 to 766 nm, with 44% superficial porosity of the scaffolds, a glass transition around ~64 °C and a critical temperature of ~338 °C. The fibrous scaffold increased the cell growth of Escherichia coli by 23% at 72 h, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus increased by 36% and 95% respectively at 48 h, when compared to the normal growth of their respective bacterial cultures. However, no significant difference in bacterial growth between the scaffolds and the casted films could be observed. Cell growth depended on a combination of several factors: type of bacteria, carbon or nitrogen sources, casted films or 3D scaffolds. Microscopy showed traces of a biofilm formation around 3 h in culture of P. aeruginosa. Water bioremediation studies showed that P. aeruginosa on poly (caprolactone)/Glucose fibers was effective in removing 87% of chromium in 8 h. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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21 pages, 3207 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Removal of Ionic Dyes by Nanofiber Membrane Functionalized with Chitosan and Egg White Proteins: Membrane Preparation and Adsorption Efficiency

by Yue-Sheng Chen, Chien Wei Ooi, Pau Loke Show, Boon Chin Hoe, Wai Siong Chai, Chen-Yaw Chiu, Steven S.-S. Wang and Yu-Kaung Chang

Membranes 2022, 12(1), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010063 - 1 Jan 2022

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 3519

Abstract

Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber membrane was functionalized with chitosan and proteins for use in the treatment of dye-containing wastewater. The PAN nanofiber membrane was subjected to alkaline hydrolysis, before being grafted with chitosan and subsequently the proteins from chicken egg white. The resultant nanofiber membrane (P-COOH-CS-CEW) was comprehensively characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The efficiency of P-COOH-CS-CEW in removing cationic dye toluidine blue O (TBO) and anionic dye acid orange 7 (AO7) in aqueous solution was evaluated. Based on the performance of model fitting, Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic model could be used to describe the performance of P-COOH-CS-CEW in the removal of TBO (pH 10) and AO7 (pH 2) from the dye solutions. The adsorbed TBO and AO7 dyes can be completely desorbed by an elution solution made of 50% (v/v) ethanol and 1 M sodium chloride. After five consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles, the efficiency of dye removal by P-COOH-CS-CEW was maintained above 97%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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10 pages, 3999 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Investigation into Hydraulic Permeability of Fibrous Membranes with Nonwoven Random and Quasi-Parallel Structures

by Zeman Liu, Yiqi Wang and Fei Guo

Membranes 2022, 12(1), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010054 - 31 Dec 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1669

Abstract

Fibrous membranes with a nonwoven random structure and a quasi-parallel fibrous structure can be fabricated by the electrospinning technique. The membranes with different structures exhibited different behaviors to a hydraulic flow passing through the membranes. This work presents the effects of the fiber arrangement, fiber diameter, and deformations of the fibers on the hydraulic permeability. The results showed that the hydraulic flow can generate an extrusion pressure which affects the porosity and pore structure of the fibrous membranes. The quasi-parallel fibrous membranes and nonwoven membranes exhibited similar variation tendencies to the change of the experimental variables. However, the quasi-parallel fibrous membranes exhibited a higher sensibility to the change of the hydraulic flow rate. The hydraulic permeability of the quasi-parallel fibrous membranes was further analyzed with packing state models in this work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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16 pages, 3877 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Bicomponent PLA Nanofiber Nonwovens as Highly Efficient Filtration Media for Particulate Pollutants and Pathogens

by Danyang Gao, Renhai Zhao, Xue Yang, Fuxing Chen and Xin Ning

Membranes 2021, 11(11), 819; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11110819 - 27 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3419

Abstract

Herein, a novel form of bicomponent nanofiber membrane containing stereo-complex polylactic acid (SC-PLA) was successfully produced by the side-by-side electrospinning of Poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and Poly (D-lactic acid) (PDLA). We demonstrate that through these environmentally sustainable materials, highly efficient nanofiber assemblies for filtration can be constructed at very low basis weight. The physical and morphological structure, crystalline structure, hydrophobicity, porous structure, and filtration performance of the fibrous membranes were thoroughly characterized. It was shown that the fabricated polylactic acid (PLA) side-by-side fiber membrane had the advantages of excellent hydrophobicity, small average pore size, high porosity, high filtration efficiency, low pressure drop as well as superior air permeability. At the very low basis weight of 1.1 g/m², the filtration efficiency and pressure drop of the prepared side-by-side membrane reached 96.2% and 30 Pa, respectively. Overall, this biomass-based, biodegradable filtration material has the potential to replace the fossil fuel-based polypropylene commercial meltblown materials for the design and development in filtration, separation, biomedical, personal protection and other fields. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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14 pages, 3933 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Orodispersible Membranes from a Modified Coaxial Electrospinning for Fast Dissolution of Diclofenac Sodium

by Tingbao Ning, Yangjian Zhou, Haixia Xu, Shiri Guo, Ke Wang and Deng-Guang Yu

Membranes 2021, 11(11), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11110802 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 56 | Viewed by 3981

Abstract

The dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs has been a longstanding and important issue in pharmaceutics during the past several decades. Nanotechnologies and their products have been broadly investigated for providing novel strategies for resolving this problem. In the present study, a new orodispersible membrane (OM) comprising electrospun nanofibers is developed for the fast dissolution of diclofenac sodium (DS). A modified coaxial electrospinning was implemented for the preparation of membranes, during which an unspinnable solution of sucralose was explored as the sheath working fluid for smoothing the working processes and also adjusting the taste of membranes. SEM and TEM images demonstrated that the OMs were composed of linear nanofibers with core-sheath inner structures. XRD and ATR-FTIR results suggested that DS presented in the OMs in an amorphous state due to the fine compatibility between DS and PVP. In vitro dissolution measurements and simulated artificial tongue experiments verified that the OMs were able to release the loaded DS in a pulsatile manner. The present protocols pave the way for the fast dissolution and fast action of a series of poorly water-soluble active ingredients that are suitable for oral administration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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Review

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22 pages, 4615 KiB

Open AccessReview

TiO₂–Based Nanofibrous Membranes for Environmental Protection

by Cristina Ileana Covaliu-Mierlă, Ecaterina Matei, Oana Stoian, Leon Covaliu, Alexandra-Corina Constandache, Horia Iovu and Gigel Paraschiv

Membranes 2022, 12(2), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020236 - 18 Feb 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3639

Abstract

Electrospinning is a unique technique that can be used to synthesize polymer and metal oxide nanofibers. In materials science, a very active field is represented by research on electrospun nanofibers. Fibrous membranes present fascinating features, such as a large surface area to volume ratio, excellent mechanical behavior, and a large surface area, which have many applications. Numerous techniques are available for the nanofiber’s synthesis, but electrospinning is presented as a simple process that allows one to obtain porous membranes containing smooth non-woven nanofibers. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is the most widely used catalyst in photocatalytic degradation processes, it has advantages such as good photocatalytic activity, excellent chemical stability, low cost and non-toxicity. Thus, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) is used in the synthesis of nanofibrous membranes that benefit experimental research by easy recyclability, excellent photocatalytic activity, high specific surface areas, and exhibiting stable hierarchical nanostructures. This article presents the synthesis of fiber membranes through the processes of electrospinning, coaxial electrospinning, electrospinning and electrospraying or electrospinning and precipitation. In addition to the synthesis of membranes, the recent progress of researchers emphasizing the efficiency of nanofiber photocatalytic membranes in removing pollutants from wastewater is also presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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35 pages, 1356 KiB

Open AccessReview

Multifunctional Membranes—A Versatile Approach for Emerging Pollutants Removal

by Ecaterina Matei, Cristina Ileana Covaliu-Mierla, Anca Andreea Ţurcanu, Maria Râpă, Andra Mihaela Predescu and Cristian Predescu

Membranes 2022, 12(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010067 - 3 Jan 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3729

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive literature review surveying the most important polymer materials used for electrospinning processes and applied as membranes for the removal of emerging pollutants. Two types of processes integrate these membrane types: separation processes, where electrospun polymers act as a support for thin film composites (TFC), and adsorption as single or coupled processes (photo-catalysis, advanced oxidation, electrochemical), where a functionalization step is essential for the electrospun polymer to improve its properties. Emerging pollutants (EPs) released in the environment can be efficiently removed from water systems using electrospun membranes. The relevant results regarding removal efficiency, adsorption capacity, and the size and porosity of the membranes and fibers used for different EPs are described in detail. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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22 pages, 9703 KiB

Open AccessReview

Electrospun Medicated Nanofibers for Wound Healing: Review

by Xinkuan Liu, Haixia Xu, Mingxin Zhang and Deng-Guang Yu

Membranes 2021, 11(10), 770; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11100770 - 9 Oct 2021

Cited by 187 | Viewed by 13516

Abstract

With the increasing demand for wound care and treatment worldwide, traditional dressings have been unable to meet the needs of the existing market due to their limited antibacterial properties and other defects. Electrospinning technology has attracted more and more researchers’ attention as a simple and versatile manufacturing method. The electrospun nanofiber membrane has a unique structure and biological function similar to the extracellular matrix (ECM), and is considered an advanced wound dressing. They have significant potential in encapsulating and delivering active substances that promote wound healing. This article first discusses the common types of wound dressing, and then summarizes the development of electrospun fiber preparation technology. Finally, the polymers and common biologically active substances used in electrospinning wound dressings are summarized, and portable electrospinning equipment is also discussed. Additionally, future research needs are put forward. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes: From Synthesis to Applications)

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