Preparation of core-shell and hollow fibers using layer by layer (LbL) self-assembly of polyelectrolytes on electrospun submicrometer-scale silica fibers

Herein, fabrication of hollow fibers made of polyelectrolyte multilayers is reported. Silica submicrometer-scale fibers were fabricated by electrospinning and layer by layer deposition of polyelectrolytes were performed to coat silica fibers with polyelectrolyte multilayers, which were prepared by consecutive deposition of poly(ethyleneimine) and poly(styrene sulfonate sodium salt)/sodium dodecyl sulfate onto the surface of the silica fibers. In order to obtain hollow fibers, the core removal was carried out by introducing the core-shell fibers to a hydrofluoric acid solution. The hollow fibers were stable in hydrofluoric acid solution and displayed pH-dependent structural changes. SEM microscopy indicated the formation of the glass fibers and the fibers coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers (Silica—polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) fibers). The diameter of the core-shell fibers was increased after layer-by-layer coating. ATR-FTIR was performed for characterization of the glass fibers before and after layer-by-layer coating as well as after selective core removal. IR spectrum of the Silica-PEM fibers indicates C-H stretching modes of saturated hydrocarbons, confirming multilayers formation. Core removal was also confirmed by IR spectroscopy as Si-O-Si band disappears for the IR spectrum of the fibers after core-removal.     

Extraction and refinement of agricultural plant fibers for composites manufacturing

Because of their excellent tensile properties, low density, and natural abundance, cellulose-based plant fibers are a sustainable and biodegradable alternative for synthetic fibers in fiber-reinforced composite materials. However, the extraction of plant fibers can be costly and difficult to control because the fibers are enmeshed in a complex network of biopolymers (principally lignin, pectin, and hemicellulose), which serve both to strengthen the fibers and to bind them to their parent organism. It is necessary to extract or degrade these biopolymers to produce fine plant fibers without adversely altering the fibers themselves in the process. In particular, it is important that both the molecular weight and the degree of crystallinity of the cellulose in the fibers be kept as high as possible. This article reviews chemical treatments, which have been used to extract and refine fibers both from purpose-grown fiber crops, such as hemp and flax, and agricultural waste such as coconut husks and pineapple leaves. The treatments are discussed in terms of changes in the mechanical properties and surface chemistry of the fibers.     

STUDY ON THE CATALYTIC ABILITY OF BIOACTIVE FIBERS

Two kinds of water-soluble metallophthalocyanines (Mt2Pc2), binuclear cobalt phthalocyanine (Co2Pc2) and binuclear ferric phthalocyanine (Fe2Pc2), were supported on silk fibers and modified viscose fibers to construct bioactive fibers of mimic enzyme, Mt2Pc2 used as the active center of bioactive fibers, viscose and silk fibers as the microenvironments. The catalytic oxidation ability of bioactive fibers on the malodors of methanthiol and hydrogen sulfide was investigated at room temperature. The experimental results demonstrated that the catalytic activity of such bioactive fibers was tightly correlative to the types of bioactive fibers and substrates.     

STUDY ON THE CATALYTIC ABILITY OF BIOACTIVE FIBERS

1. INTRODUCTIONEnzyme as a biologic catalyst plays an important role in all kinds of chemical reactions inside living creatures. Comparing to chemical catalysts, the natural enzyme has many advantages such as high speed, specificity, sensitivity and mild …     

PREPARATION AND CATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF BIOACTIVE FIBERS

Two kinds of water-soluble metallophthalocyanines, binuclear cobalt phthalocyanine （Co2Pc2） and binuclear ferric phthalocyanine （Fe2Pc2）, were synthesized through phenylanhydride-urea route and characterized by elemental analysis and FT-IR spectra. Binuclear metallophthalocyanine derivatives （Mt2Pc2） were immobilized on silk fibers and modified viscose fibers to construct bioactive fibers of mimic enzyme. Mt2Pc2 was used as the active center of bioactive fibers, viscose and silk fibers as the microenvironments. The catalytic oxidation ability of bioactive fibers on the malodors of methanthiol and hydrogen sulfide was investigated at room temperature. The experimental results indicated that the catalytic activity of such bioactive fibers was closely correlative to the types ofbioactive fibers and substrates.     

层叠层技术组装纳米沸石——沸石涂饰纤维和沸石空 心纤维

以纳米沸石为基元构件,通过层(layer-by-layer)组装技术在碳纤维模板上成功制备了纳米沸石涂饰纤维(zeolitecoatedfibers),焙烧除去碳纤维模板后,制微了完整的沸石空心纤维(hollowzeolitefibers),并系统研究了它们的制备条件和材料结构。发现纳米沸石胶体溶液的pH值是制备沸石涂饰纤维和空心沸石纤维的关键因素,其它条件,诸如吸附液的离子强度,每层吸附后的干燥以及每次干燥前是否用PDDA溶液预浸泡,对纤维的完美性也有影响。通过改变吸附纳米沸石的类型和层数可能调变沸石层的组成和厚度,而交替吸附不同的纳米沸石可能制备复合沸石涂饰纤维及复合空心沸石纤维。     

聚酰亚胺纤维的研究进展

聚酰亚胺纤维由于分子主链含有刚性的芳杂环结构,赋予其优异的力学、热学、耐辐照、介电以及化学稳定性等性能,从而在航空航天、高温耐热、防火阻燃、电子器件、核能等领域具有广泛应用前景,并成为21世纪最具潜力的高性能纤维之一。近年来,随着单体来源、工艺条件的不断改善,聚酰亚胺纤维的研究得到更大关注和投入,极大促进了聚酰亚胺纤维的规模化制备和应用发展开发。本文综述了近年来高性能聚酰亚胺纤维的国内外研究成果,并针对不同化学结构、纺丝工艺以及亚胺化方法对纤维性能的影响进行阐述,同时也对其发展趋势进行展望。     

Sol–gel synthesis of porous titania fibers by electro-spinning for water purification

In this study, porous ceramic fibers were prepared by the sol–gel-assisted electro-spinning process using colloidal dispersion of complex fluids for the application of phtotocatalysts. First, polystyrene nanospheres were synthesized by dispersion polymerization as sacrificial templates for porous fibers. Then, the mixture of polyvinylpyrrolidone and the ceramic precursor with the polymeric nanospheres was prepared as the spinning solution and self-organized by electro-spinning, followed by calcination of the electrospun composite fibers. The morphologies of the porous fibers could be controlled according to the size of the templates and the amount of the ceramic precursor. The nano-structure of the pores in the fibrous materials could also be adjusted as open or closed cavities with various potential applications. As a demonstrative application, the macroporous titania fibers could be utilized as photocatalysts for the removal of organic dyes dissolved in water. A better photocatalytic activity of the macroporous fibers with 700-nm pore diameter was observed compared to the result of nonporous titania fibers due to the increased porosity. Collectively, the macroporous ceramic fibers were found to be efficient functional materials to prepare the unique nano-structured materials other than simple nonporous fibers.     

可生物降解型纤维材料

主要介绍了近年来可生物降材料合成技术的新进展及其在纤维材料上的应用,同时,介绍了可降解纤维材料如纤维素纤维、甲壳纱类纤维、聚酯纤维、聚酰胺纤维、尤其对淀粉纤维的发展作了较为详细的论述,指出淀粉纤维的应用领域已获得较大的拓展。由于淀粉可再生,可降解,成本低,淀粉纤维未来的应用前景十分广阔。     

High‐strength electrically conductive fibers: Functionalization of polyamide,aramid, and polyester fibers with PEDOT polymer

In this work, high‐performance fibers such as aramid (Twaron), polyamide (PA6), polyester (PET), and hybrid Twaron/PA6 fibers were transformed into electroactive fibers by coating them with conjugated polymer, poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) through vapor phase polymerization (VPP) method. The VPP is considered as an efficient technique for depositing CPs on different substrates regardless of their lower solubility in various solvents. In this paper, PEDOT‐coated high‐performance fibers were prepared under already optimized reaction conditions, and then a comparison between electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of different fibers, before and after coating, was made. The obtained coated fibers were characterized through scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), 2‐probe electrical resistance measurement method, and tensile testing. It was revealed that at particular reaction conditions, all high performance textile substrates were successfully converted into electroactive fibers. The voltage‐current (V‐I) characteristics showed that PEDOT‐coated polyester fibers exhibited highest conductivity value among all other substrate fibers. The active PEDOT layers on high performance fibers could behave as an antistatic coating to minimize the risks associated with static charges at work places. Also, the obtained fibers have potential to be used as smart materials for various medical, sports, and military applications.     

Electroactive electrospun polyaniline/poly[(L-lactide)-co-(ε-caprolactone)] fibers for control of neural cell function

Blends of PAni and PLCL are electrospun to prepare uniform fibers for the development of electrically conductive, engineered nerve grafts. PC12 cell viability is significantly higher on RPACL fibers than on PLCL-only fibers, and the electrical conductivity of the fibers affects the differentiation of PC12 cells; the number of cells positively-stained and their expression level are significantly higher on RPACL fibers. PC12 cell bodies display an oriented morphology with outgrowing neurites. On RPACL fibers, the expression level of paxillin, cdc-42, and rac is positively affected and proteins including RhoA and ERK exist as more activated state. These results suggest that electroactive fibers may hold promise as a guidance scaffold for neuronal tissue engineering.     

Electrochemical Properties of Different Carbon‐Fiber Microelectrodes Using Fast‐Scan Cyclic Voltammetry

In this study, fast‐scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) was used to compare responses to neurochemicals of various carbon fibers, with different conductivities and carbon precursors. Pitch‐based P‐25 and P‐55 fibers were compared to polyacrylonitrile‐based T‐650 and HM fibers. Highly conductive fibers such as P‐55s or HMs have larger background charging currents than lower conductivity fibers. Using a standard waveform, PAN‐based fibers and less conductive fibers experience faster kinetics. With a more positive switching potential, higher conductivity fibers show faster kinetics for catecholamines and larger oxidation peak currents for anions such as ascorbic acid and 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC). Conductivity was found to have the greatest impact on fiber performance, but the nature of its effect depends on the waveform used and the analyte detected.     

Mechanical Properties and Chemical Resistance of Short Tamarind Fiber/Unsaturated Polyester Composites: Influence of Fiber Modification and Fiber Content

In the present work, tamarind fibers were extracted from ripened fruits by the water retting process. Using these fibers as reinforcement and unsaturated polyester as matrix, composite samples were prepared by the hand lay-up technique. The effect of chemical surface treatments (alkali and silane) of tamarind fibers on the mechanical properties, chemical resistance, and interfacial bonding was studied. The mechanical properties of the composites with surface modified fibers were found to be higher than those with unmodified fibers. Morphological studies indicated improvement of interfacial bonding by alkali and silane coupling agent treatments of the fibers. The composites were found to be resistant to many chemicals.     

Preparation and drug delivery study of electrospun hollow PES ultrafine fibers with a multilayer wall

The focus of this work was the preparation of hollow ultrafine fibers with a multilayer wall via coaxial electrospinning technology in one step and then studied their drug delivery properties. In this paper, by choosing a suitable dilute hydrophilic polymer solution as the core solution, polyethersulfone (PES) hollow ultrafine fibers with two different layers wall (porous structure layer and dense smooth layer) were formed during coaxial electrospinning process in one step. They showed good drug delivery capacity when curcumin was used as the model drug. There were much larger delivery amounts, more stable release rate, and higher utilization rate of PES hollow ultrafine fibers with a multilayer wall to curcumin than that of PES porous ultrafine fibers. Compared with porous ultrafine fibers, hollow ultrafine fibers with two different layers wall were more suitable to be used as drug delivery materials. Besides, between the two hollow ultrafine fibers with two different layers wall mentioned in this paper, there was much better drug delivery capacity for the hollow fibers produced with the core solution of PVA/DMSO. These results showed that PES hollow ultrafine fibers with two different layers wall have the potential to be used as the drug delivery materials.     

Ability of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers to initiate graft copolymerization

It was noted in a graft copolymerization reaction involving a system of poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers (PVA fibers), methyl methacrylate, and water that fibers oxidized with hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite or ferric ion-adsorbing fibers effectively initiate the reaction as in the case of cellulose fibers. The initiation reaction of the sample was markedly activated by the presence of a pretreatment with an oxidizing agent at a concentration on the order of 10^?9 mole/l., but the oxidized samples were sharply deactivated by such means as reduction and oximation. Since model initiators for the present system, such as iron(III) acetylacetonate-adsorbing PVA fibers or ferric ion-adsorbing fibres, with the co-existence of acetylacetone were observed to initiate graft copolymerization effectively, it is believed that carbonyl groups in modified PVA fibers could be a major factor for initiating copolymerization through interaction with metallic ions.     

Rotation and contraction of native and regenerated cellulose fibers upon swelling and dissolution: the role of morphological and stress unbalances

Upon swelling and dissolution, native cellulose fibers such as cotton hairs or wood fibers are rotating and contracting. Regenerated cellulose fibers are only contracting, not rotating. Cotton hairs show two rotation mechanisms, a well known untwisting, not seen in wood fibers, due to the unwinding of the twists initially induced by the desiccation that occurs at the end of the growth, and a “microscopic rotation” that can also be slightly observed in wood fibers. In addition to these rotation mechanisms, cotton hairs and wood fibers show a rolling up of their primary wall that is due to the higher elongation of the external layers as compared to the internal layers arising during the elongation phase of the cell. Contraction originates from the fact that the cellulose chains are in an extended conformational state due to the spinning process for the regenerated fibers and to the bio-deposition process for native fibers. The contraction is related to the relaxation of the mean conformation of cellulose chains from an extended state to a more condensed state. Physical as well as mechanical modeling will support the experimental observations.     

热致液晶高分子微纤的形貌特征和一个模量分析的方法

热致液晶高分子微纤的形貌特征和一个模量分析的方法益小苏，沈烈（浙江大学高分子科学与工程学系，杭州，３１００２７）关键词热致液晶高分子，原位复合，弹性模量，注塑由于主链型热致液晶高分子（ＬＣＰ）的高模量、高强度、易取向、低粘度等特性，当将这种高分子以较...     

Centrifugally spun poly(ethylene oxide) fibers rival the properties of electrospun fibers

Centrifugal force spinning (CFS), also known as centrifugal spinning, forcespinning, or rotary jet spinning, provides considerably higher production rates than electrospinning (ES), but the more widespread use of CFS as an alternative depends on the ability to produce fibers with robust thermal and mechanical properties. Here, we report the CFS of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) fibers made using a spinning dope formulated with acetonitrile (AcN) as the volatile solvent, and we describe the thermal and mechanical properties of the centrifugally-spun fibers. Even though the formation, diameter, and morphology of electrospun and centrifugally-spun PEO fibers are relatively well-studied, the article presents three crucial contributions: the pioneering use of PEO solutions in AcN as spinning dope, characterization of crystallinity and mechanical properties of the centrifugally-spun PEO fibers, and a comparison with the corresponding properties of electrospun fibers. We find that fiber formation occurrs for the chosen CFS conditions if polymer concentration exceeds the entanglement concentration, determined from the measured specific viscosity. Most significantly, the centrifugally spun PEO fibers display crystallinity, modulus, elongation-at-break, and fiber diameter that rival the properties of electrospun PEO fibers reported in the literature.     

Swelling behaviour of succinylated fibers

The swelling behaviour of cellulosic fibers bearing various amounts of carboxylic groups introduced by succinylation was studied as a function of pH. Upon an increase of pH, the perimeter of the succinylated fibers expanded as measured with the Wilhelmy plate technique. The fibers pass two pH regimes of increased expansion, pH = 5 and pH = 9. These pH levels correlate with the conductometric titration, which reveals two inflection points in both the pH and conductivity values for the succinylated fibers. Determinations of fiber saturation points (FSP) confirm that the cell wall is largely affected by increased pH. Analysis of the fibers with ESEM (Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope) showed that bundles of fibrils were released from the surface of the succinylated fibers at higher pH. Wilhelmy measurements also showed that the surface roughness was more than doubled in fibers succinylated for 12 h as pH rose from 3.2 to 10. These results indicate that, as the charge of the fibers is increased, the swelling forces reach such levels of magnitude that they overcome the structural network forces holding the fiber wall together. The methodology applied can hence be used to quantify the fundamental gel properties of the fiber wall.     

Influence of Neem oil pretreatment on the dyeing and antimicrobial properties of wool and silk fibers with some natural dyes

Wool and silk fibers pretreated with neem oil and dyed with chlorophyll, saffron red and yellow natural dyes using economic methods such as microwave heating and ultrasonic energy. The effect of neem oil concentrations on color strength (K/S) was measured. The results indicated that, wool and silk fibers pretreated with neem oil recorded higher color strength values than the untreated fibers. Fastness properties and the color yield of the dyes under investigation on wool and silk fibers were evaluated. The results indicated that, color fastness to rubbing, washing and perspiration of all dyes are excellent to good and are approximately the same in microwave and ultrasonic method. The antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi were tested, and the results indicated that the samples pretreated exhibited higher inhibition percent than the untreated fibers. The morphologies structure of the untreated and treated wool fibers were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The untreated samples have a rough surface. The pretreated samples of wool fibers were swelling compared to the untreated fibers .The diameter of the fibers increased and have smooth and even surfaces. The changes in the surface morphology due to the effect of active ingredients of treatment with neem oil. This behavior as swelling and increase in diameter of the fibers leads to high penetration of the dyes in the fibers.