Electrospun nanofibers, process, merits, challenges, and usefulness: A review

Abstract

Nanotechnology, deals with materials on the order of 100 nm, has been showing immense potential for the last four decades. Precise manipulation and stringent control on structure of materials allows nanomaterials to have unique characteristics. The versatility of electrospinning has resulted in the development of techniques such as melt, coaxial, needleless, single and multi-needle, wet, solution and hybrid methods, which produce nanofibers with diverse applications in biomedical engineering, tissue engineering, drug delivery, filtration, protective clothing, and energy systems. Some key factors, like polymer molecular weight, temperature, humidity, electric field strength, and viscoelasticity, are important parameters in electrospinning, and they affect fiber morphology, diameter, and quality. Again, electrospinning faces some barriers like scalability issues, irreproducibility, solvent toxicity, frequent needle clogging, adhesion issues, mechanical inconsistencies, etc. This comprehensive review aims to discuss various methods of electrospinning in relation to nanofiber production. It also discussed a brief history of the development of electrospinning. Again, it covers the effect of factors on the properties and morphology of electrospun nanofibers. Moreover, this review illustrates merits, and drawbacks of producing nanofibers through electrospinning. Although there are several solutions in practice to mitigate some of the limitations, but there are room for further research. Lastly, it covers the current and potential utilization of electrospun nanofibers.