Novel Materials and Devices Based on Nanofibers

The six topics covered in the present chapter stem from recent applications of nanofibers in novel materials and devices. (i) Self-healing vascular nanotextured materials incorporate nanofibers filled with healing agents. When a material like that is damaged, the healing agents are released and polymerize spanning cracks and reparing engineering materials in situ, similarly to living tissues. (ii) Biopolymer-derived nanofibers can be formed from bio-waste, while serve in important novel biomedical and agricultural applications, as well as sophisticated filter media. The additional benefits of such nanotextured materials are in their biocompatibility and biodegradability. (iii) Nanofibers are also involved in thermo-pneumatic soft robots and actuators, which were recently developed. (iv) Biopolymer-derived nanofibers reveal significant triboelectric properties and thus, can be used as triboelectric nanogenerators. On the other hand, superhydrophobic electrospun fibrous membranes comprise an attractive venue for development of novel fabrics. (v) Nanofibers can be electroplated or sputter-coated, which leads to multiple novel applications, e.g., as nanotextured heaters, sensors, or highly effective electrostatic filters. (vi) Several additional physical properties, which can be incorporated in nanofibers include ferroelectricity, flexoelectricity and piezoelectricity, which can be employed in such devices as nanotextured wave-energy harvesters. Nanofibers can also be formed from conducting polymers and used in transparent fibrous heaters.