ABSTRACT
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 dif-
fusive resistance. However, the related transport properties (i.e., gas
flow and 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.
