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Fabrication of fiber-reinforced composites via immersed electrohydrodynamic direct writing in polymer gels

  • Early Career Materials Researcher Research Letter
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Abstract

Fiber-reinforced composites have provided tremendous opportunities in advanced engineering materials, but the fiber generation and spatial distribution are the most challenging aspects. This paper proposes a novel fabrication approach for fiber-reinforced composites with spatially resolved fiber distribution by combining immersion and near-field electrospinning. The new Immersed Electrohydrodynamic Direct-writing (I-EHD) process makes use of an electrostatic force to draw ultrafine fibers and allows the freestanding of electrospun fibers all inside a liquid matrix. This novel approach enables the dynamic control of fiber morphology and 3D spatial distribution inside the composites, which may lead to future scalable 3D printing of multifunctional composites.

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The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper. Additional raw data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number CNS-2229170 and grant number DMR-1928702. This work was also supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1747452, which supported Nathanial Buettner in his Ph.D. studies. This work made use of the EPIC facility of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Yunzhi Xu, Nathanial Buettner & Ange-Therese Akono

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA

    Ange-Therese Akono & Ping Guo

Authors
  1. Yunzhi Xu
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  2. Nathanial Buettner
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  3. Ange-Therese Akono
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  4. Ping Guo
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Correspondence to Ping Guo.

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Xu, Y., Buettner, N., Akono, AT. et al. Fabrication of fiber-reinforced composites via immersed electrohydrodynamic direct writing in polymer gels. MRS Communications 13, 1038–1045 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-023-00399-2

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