(200b) 1D Porous Fibers Via a New Spinning Method

The challenges in spinning fibers include structural design, composition management, and size-continuity control. For example, electrospinning can produce nanoscale fibers, but the collection of them on winders has been a problem, limiting the use of these fibers to porous membranes or tissue scaffolds. Therefore, this research studies the design, processing, and characterization of porous fibers that can be continuously collected. A new spinning method is developed to incorporate multiple materials, with pores of different sizes and porosity controlled. A few polymers will be used to demonstrate the versatility of this newly designed spinning method, including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). More importantly, these materials contain waste composites from aerospace and energy industries and can enhance composite design or recycling sustainability. The fabricated fibers will be tested via mechanical, thermal, and other functional methods to explore their applications in structural materials, heat dissipation, non-destructive sensing, and even carbon capture, among many other utilizations.