Jianyong Yu

Ultralight nanofibre-assembled cellular aerogels with superelasticity and multifunctionality

Three-dimensional nanofibrous aerogels (NFAs) that are both highly compressible and resilient would have broad technological implications for areas ranging from electrical devices and bioengineering to damping materials; however, creating such NFAs has proven extremely challenging. Here we report a novel strategy to create fibrous, isotropically bonded elastic reconstructed (FIBER) NFAs with a hierarchical cellular structure and superelasticity by combining electrospun nanofibres and the fibrous freeze-shaping technique. Our approach causes the intrinsically lamellar deposited electrospun nanofibres to assemble into elastic bulk aerogels with tunable densities and desirable shapes on a large scale. The resulting FIBER NFAs exhibit densities of >0.12 mg cm(-3), rapid recovery from deformation, efficient energy absorption and multifunctionality in terms of the combination of thermal insulation, sound absorption, emulsion separation and elasticity-responsive electric conduction. The successful synthesis of such fascinating materials may provide new insights into the design and development of multifunctional NFAs for various applications.

Electrospun poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/halloysite nanotube composite nanofibers for drug encapsulation and sustained release

We report a novel electrospun composite nanofiber-based drug delivery system. In this study, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were first used to encapsulate a model drug, tetracycline hydrochloride. Then, the drug-loaded HNTs with an optimized encapsulation efficiency were mixed with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) polymer for subsequent electrospinning to form drug-loaded composite nanofibrous mats. The structure, morphology, and mechanical properties of the formed electrospun composite nanofibrous mats were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and tensile testing. In vitro drug release behavior was examined using UV-vis spectroscopy. The biocompatibility of HNT-containing PLGA fibers was evaluated through cell culture and MTT assay. We show that the incorporation of HNTs within the nanofibrous mats does not significantly change the morphology of the mats. In addition, our results indicate that this double-container drug delivery system (both PLGA polymer and HNTs are drug carriers) is beneficial to reduce the burst release of the drug and the introduction of HNTs can significantly improve the tensile strength of the polymer nanofibrous mats. Given the proved biocompatibility of the HNT-containing PLGA nanofibers via MTT assay of cell viability and SEM observation of cell morphology, the drug loaded electrospun composite nanofibrous mats developed in this study may find various applications in tissue engineering and pharmaceutical sciences.

An in situ polymerization approach for the synthesis of superhydrophobic and superoleophilic nanofibrous membranes for oil–water separation

Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic nanofibrous membranes exhibiting robust oil-water separation performance were prepared by a facile combination of electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers and a novel in situ polymerized fluorinated polybenzoxazine (F-PBZ) functional layer that incorporated silica nanoparticles (SiO(2) NPs). By employing the F-PBZ/SiO(2) NPs modification, the pristine hydrophilic CA nanofibrous membranes were endowed with a superhydrophobicity with the water contact angle of 161° and a superoleophilicity with the oil contact angle of 3°. Surface morphological studies have indicated that the wettability of resultant membranes could be manipulated by tuning the surface composition as well as the hierarchical structures. The quantitative hierarchical roughness analysis using the N(2) adsorption method has confirmed the major contribution of SiO(2) NPs on enhancing the porous structure, and a detailed correlation between roughness and solid-liquid interface pinning is proposed. Furthermore, the as-prepared membranes exhibited fast and efficient separation for oil-water mixtures and excellent stability over a wide range of pH conditions, which would make them a good candidate in industrial oil-polluted water treatments and oil spill cleanup, and also provided a new insight into the design and development of functional nanofibrous membranes through F-PBZ modification.

Nanoporous polystyrene fibers for oil spill cleanup

The development of oil sorbents with high sorption capacity, low cost, scalable fabrication, and high selectivity is of great significance for water environmental protection, especially for oil spillage on seawater. In this work, we report nanoporous polystyrene (PS) fibers prepared via a one-step electrospinning process used as oil sorbents for oil spill cleanup. The oleophilic-hydrophobic PS oil sorbent with highly porous structures shows a motor oil sorption capacity of 113.87 g/g, approximately 3-4 times that of natural sorbents and nonwoven polypropylene fibrous mats. Additionally, the sorbents also exhibit a relatively high sorption capacity for edible oils, such as bean oil (111.80 g/g) and sunflower seed oil (96.89 g/g). The oil sorption mechanism of the PS sorbent and the sorption kinetics were investigated. Our nanoporous material has great potential for use in wastewater treatment, oil accident remediation and environmental protection.

A highly sensitive humidity sensor based on a nanofibrous membrane coated quartz crystal microbalance

A novel humidity sensor was fabricated by electrospinning deposition of nanofibrous polyelectrolyte membranes as sensitive coatings on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The results of sensing experiments indicated that the response of the sensors increased by more than two orders of magnitude with increasing relative humidity (RH) from 6 to 95% at room temperature, exhibiting high sensitivity, and that, in the range of 20-95% RH, the Log(Deltaf) showed good linearity. The sensitivity of fibrous composite polyacrylic acid (PAA)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes was two times higher than that of the corresponding flat films at 95% RH. Compared with fibrous PAA/PVA membranes, the nanofibrous PAA membranes exhibited remarkably enhanced humidity sensitivity due to their high PAA content and large specific surface area caused by the formation of ultrathin nanowebs among electrospun fibers. Additionally, the resultant sensors exhibited a good reversible behavior and good long term stability.

Tunable fabrication of three-dimensional polyamide-66 nano-fiber/nets for high efficiency fine particulate filtration

A novel airborne particulate filtration medium, consisting of a two-tier composite structure, i.e., a nano-fiber/net (NFN) top layer and a conventional nonwoven microfibrous support, was demonstrated for highly efficient and low pressure drop filtration for the first time. The polyamide-66 (PA-66) NFN structured top layer, which is composed of traditional electrospun nanofibers and two-dimensional (2D) spider-web-like nano-nets, was electro-spinning/netting (ESN) deposited on the nonwoven polypropylene (PP) scaffold for constructing this new concept of filter. The morphology of NFN architecture, including fiber diameter, coverage rate, pore-width and layer-by-layer packing structure of the nano-nets, can be finely controlled by regulating the solution properties and several ESN process parameters. Taking advantage of several fascinating features such as extremely small diameter, high porosity, controllable coverage rate, nano-nets bring to the NFN/nonwoven composite filtration medium several excellent filtration features such as high filtration efficiency (up to 99.9%), low pressure drop, facile filters cleaning, and more lightweight.

Controlled release and antibacterial activity of antibiotic-loaded electrospun halloysite/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) composite nanofibers

Fabrication of nanofiber-based drug delivery system with controlled release property is of general interest in biomedical sciences. In this study, we prepared an antibiotic drug tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH)-loaded halloysite nanotubes/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) composite nanofibers (TCH/HNTs/PLGA), and evaluated the drug release and antibacterial activity of this drug delivery system. The structure, morphology, and mechanical properties of the formed electrospun TCH/HNTs/PLGA composite nanofibrous mats were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and tensile testing. We show that the incorporation of TCH-loaded HNTs within the PLGA nanofibers is able to improve the tensile strength and maintain the three-dimensional structure of the nanofibrous mats. In vitro viability assay and SEM morphology observation of mouse fibroblast cells cultured onto the fibrous scaffolds demonstrate that the developed TCH/HNTs/PLGA composite nanofibers are cytocompatible. More importantly, the TCH/HNTs/PLGA composite nanofibers are able to release the antibacterial drug TCH in a sustained manner for 42 days and display antimicrobial activity solely associated with the encapsulated TCH drug. With the improved mechanical durability, sustained drug release profile, good cytocompatibility, and non-compromised therapeutic efficacy, the developed composite electrospun nanofibrous drug delivery system may be used as therapeutic scaffold materials for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications.

Ultralight Biomass‐Derived Carbonaceous Nanofibrous Aerogels with Superelasticity and High Pressure‐Sensitivity

Superelastic and pressure-sensitive carbonaceous nanofibrous aerogels with a honeycomb-like structure are fabricated through the combination of sustainable konjac glucomannan biomass and flexible SiO2 nanofibers. The aerogels can detect dynamic pressure with a wide pressure range and high sensitivity, which enables real pressure signals, such as human blood pulses, to be monitored in real time and in situ.

Gravity driven separation of emulsified oil–water mixtures utilizing in situ polymerized superhydrophobic and superoleophilic nanofibrous membranes

A novel and scalable strategy was developed for the synthesis of in situ polymerized superhydrophobic and superoleophilic nanofibrous membranes for effective separation of water-in-oil microemulsions, which exhibit an extremely high flux of 892 L m−2 h−1 solely driven by gravity, as well as good antifouling properties, thermal stability and durability.

Facile control of intra-fiber porosity and inter-fiber voids in electrospun fibers for selective adsorption

We report a facile method to control intra-fiber porosity via varying the relative humidity and inter-fiber voids through the blending of two different polymeric fibers via multi-nozzles spinning of electrospun fibers for selective adsorption of oil from water.