Electrospinning of Manmade and Biopolymer Nanofibers-Progress in Techniques, Materials, and Applications

Electrospinning of nanofibers has developed quickly from a laboratory curiosity to a highly versatile method for the preparation of a wide variety of nanofibers, which are of interest from a fundamental as well as a technical point of view. A wide variety of materials has been processed into individual nanofibers or nanofiber mats with very different morphologies. The diverse properties of these nanofibers, based on different physical, chemical, or biological behavior, mean they are of interest for different applications ranging from filtration, antibacterial coatings, drug release formulations, tissue engineering, living membranes, sensors, and so on. A particular advantage of electrospinning is that numerous non-fiber forming materials can be immobilized by electrospinning in nanofiber nonwovens, even very sensitive biological objects such as virus, bacteria, and cells. The progress made during the last few years in the field of electrospinning is fascinating and is highlighted in this Feature Article, with particular emphasis on results obtained in the authors' research units. Specific areas of importance for the future of electrospinning, and which may open up novel applications, are also highlighted.