CHAPTER 8: Large-scale Production of Electrospun-based Mat to Explore in Electronics and Sensors

Nanofiber is an emerging innovative material that promises exciting opportunities in electronic devices and biosensoring, driven by its simplicity and economic production at a larger scale. The capability of fine-tuning its properties by surface modification makes nanofiber feasible for biomolecules binding, such as DNA, protein and enzyme, with a high loading due to its nano-scale feature. In this chapter, the characteristics of nanofiber and the lab-scale fabrication of nanofiber-based electronics and biosensors are addressed. The general electrospinning and new strategies for nanofiber electrospinning are elaborated while the highlighted drawbacks associated with the lab-scale production include the manual operation, safety issue, collection and low throughput. Finally, the review covers the technologies for large-scale nanofiber production, for example, using modified lab-scale electrospinning set-ups, melt electrospinning or spinning the solutions or melts by magnetic, shear and centrifugal forces. The feasibility of the techniques for the production of electronics and sensor application in nanofiber are also described. It includes the state-of-the-art of the commercially available nanofiber-based products in addition to the description of companies that have successfully commercialized products.