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Polymeric Fibers: Preparations, Characterizations, and Applications

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 20747

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5625 Renmin Street, Changchun 130022, China
Interests: polymer chemistry; self-assembly; nanoparticle; hydrogel; scaffold; biomaterial; controlled drug delivery; immunotherapy; regenerative medicine
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Guest Editor
College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, China
Interests: polymer physics; fiber; hydrogel; scaffold; biomaterial; controlled drug delivery; biomacromolecule encapsulation; self-sealing; anti-adhension; regenerative medicine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past few decades, polymeric fibers, with diameters in the range from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers, have attracted considerable attraction from research communities around the globe, owing to their amazing features of easy availability, high specific surface area, controllable shape/diameter, flexibility in surface functionalities, easy processing, and impressive physico-mechanical properties. A number of processing techniques, such as electrospinning, drawing, melt-blown, template synthesis, phase separation, self-assembly, and 3D printing, have been used for generating polymeric fibers. Based on these continuously-updated technologies, the intrinsic characteristics from the polymers further impart the fibers with many desirable properties, so as to extend their applications in an increasingly diverse array of areas. Until now, the high-performance polymeric fibers have already exhibited promising potentials for being utilized as reinforcements, tissue engineering scaffolds, pharmaceutical repositories, wound dressing, anti-adhesion membranes, filtration, sound absorption, sensors, wearable devices, and so forth.

In this Special Issue, we invite investigators to contribute short communications, full research articles, and timely reviews that are related to the preparations, characterizations, and applications of state-of-the-art polymeric fibers. We are particularly interested in researches that focus on the polymeric fibers with unique structure design and tailed functionalities. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • The advanced preparation technologies and characterizations of polymeric fibers
  • Effects of composition, structure, and processing parameter on physicochemical properties of polymeric fibers and their mechanism
  • The development of polymeric fibers with unique structure design or controlled morphology
  • Diverse applications of high-performance polymeric fibers.

Dr. Jianxun Ding
Dr. Jin Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Polymeric fibers
  • Preparation
  • Characterization
  • Structural design
  • Multifunctionality
  • Reinforcement
  • Tissue engineering scaffold
  • Pharmaceutical repository
  • Wound dressing
  • Anti-adhesion membrane
  • Filtration
  • Sound absorption
  • Sensor
  • Wearable device

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 7277 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Electrospun Gelatin Mat with Incorporated Zinc Oxide/Graphene Oxide and Its Antibacterial Activity
by Honghai Li, Yu Chen, Weipeng Lu, Yisheng Xu, Yanchuan Guo and Geng Yang
Molecules 2020, 25(5), 1043; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25051043 - 26 Feb 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2603
Abstract
Current wound dressings have poor antimicrobial activities and are difficult to degrade. Therefore, biodegradable and antibacterial dressings are urgently needed. In this article, we used the hydrothermal method and side-by-side electrospinning technology to prepare a gelatin mat with incorporated zinc oxide/graphene oxide (ZnO/GO) [...] Read more.
Current wound dressings have poor antimicrobial activities and are difficult to degrade. Therefore, biodegradable and antibacterial dressings are urgently needed. In this article, we used the hydrothermal method and side-by-side electrospinning technology to prepare a gelatin mat with incorporated zinc oxide/graphene oxide (ZnO/GO) nanocomposites. The resultant fibers were characterized by field emission environment scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results indicated that the gelatin fibers had good morphology, and ZnO/GO nanocomposites were uniformly dispersed on the fibers. The loss of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) viability were observed to more than 90% with the incorporation of ZnO/GO. The degradation process showed that the composite fibers completely degraded within 7 days and had good controllable degradation characteristics. This study demonstrated the potential applicability of ZnO/GO-gelatin mats with excellent antibacterial properties as wound dressing material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Fibers: Preparations, Characterizations, and Applications)
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14 pages, 2335 KiB  
Article
Fabricating Fibers of a Porous-Polystyrene Shell and Particle-Loaded Core
by Dharneedar Ravichandran, Weiheng Xu, Rahul Franklin, Namrata Kanth, Sayli Jambhulkar, Sumedh Shukla and Kenan Song
Molecules 2019, 24(22), 4142; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24224142 - 15 Nov 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3364
Abstract
Polystyrene (PS) polymers have broad applications in protective packaging for food shipping, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery and the making of models. Currently, most PS products, such as foams, are not accepted for recycling due to a low density in the [...] Read more.
Polystyrene (PS) polymers have broad applications in protective packaging for food shipping, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery and the making of models. Currently, most PS products, such as foams, are not accepted for recycling due to a low density in the porous structure. This poses a challenge for logistics as well as creating a lack of incentive to invest in high-value products. This study, however, demonstrated the use of a dry-jet wet-spinning technique to manufacture continuous PS fibers enabled by an in-house designed and developed spinning apparatus. The manufactured fibers showed porosity in the shell and the capability to load particles in their core, a structure with high potential use in environmentally relevant applications such as water treatment or CO2 collections. A two-phase liquid-state microstructure was first achieved via a co-axial spinneret. Following coagulation procedures and heat treatment, phase-separation-based selective dissolution successfully generated the porous-shell/particle-core fibers. The pore size and density were controlled by the porogen (i.e., PEG) concentrations and examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fiber formation dynamics were studied via rheology tests and gelation measurements. The shell components were characterized by tensile tests, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry for mechanical durability and thermal stability analyses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Fibers: Preparations, Characterizations, and Applications)
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Review

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33 pages, 4745 KiB  
Review
Fabrication of Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers with Diverse Morphologies
by Chenyu Wang, Jun Wang, Liangdan Zeng, Ziwen Qiao, Xiaochen Liu, He Liu, Jin Zhang and Jianxun Ding
Molecules 2019, 24(5), 834; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24050834 - 26 Feb 2019
Cited by 231 | Viewed by 14320
Abstract
Fiber structures with nanoscale diameters offer many fascinating features, such as excellent mechanical properties and high specific surface areas, making them attractive for many applications. Among a variety of technologies for preparing nanofibers, electrospinning is rapidly evolving into a simple process, which is [...] Read more.
Fiber structures with nanoscale diameters offer many fascinating features, such as excellent mechanical properties and high specific surface areas, making them attractive for many applications. Among a variety of technologies for preparing nanofibers, electrospinning is rapidly evolving into a simple process, which is capable of forming diverse morphologies due to its flexibility, functionality, and simplicity. In such review, more emphasis is put on the construction of polymer nanofiber structures and their potential applications. Other issues of electrospinning device, mechanism, and prospects, are also discussed. Specifically, by carefully regulating the operating condition, modifying needle device, optimizing properties of the polymer solutions, some unique structures of core–shell, side-by-side, multilayer, hollow interior, and high porosity can be obtained. Taken together, these well-organized polymer nanofibers can be of great interest in biomedicine, nutrition, bioengineering, pharmaceutics, and healthcare applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Fibers: Preparations, Characterizations, and Applications)
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