Gas transport properties and transport-based applications of electrospun nanofibers

Electrospun nanofibers have found great applications in numerous areas, including filtration, protective clothing, tissue engineering, thermal insulation, and fuel cells. These fibers have several unique properties such as extremely small radius, high surface areas, high porosity, and relatively high mechanical performance. For gas transport-based applications, electrospun nanofibers significantly increase filtration efficiency at a given pressure drop of gas flow, and they are also known as good candidates of breathable protective clothing with high convective flow resistance but low moisture diffusive resistance. However, the related transport properties (i.e., gas flowand vapor diffusion) in the nanoscale fibrousmedia are difficult to explain using the continuum mechanics. This chapter presents mechanistic models for the main transport phenomena in order to advance the in-depth understanding of the relationship between the structure, transport, and functionality of electrospun nanofibers. A brief introduction of the recent progress in electrospinning is also provided.