Charged nanofibers and methods for making

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018209072-A1
Application number	US-201815876439-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 22, 2018
Priority date	Mar 19, 2012
Publication date	Jul 26, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Described herein are nanofibers and methods for making nanofibers that include any one or more of (a) a non-homogeneous charge density; (b) a plurality of regions of high charge density; and/or (c) charged nanoparticles or chargeable nanoparticles. In one aspect, the present invention fulfills a need for filtration media that are capable of both high performance (e.g., removal of particle sizes between 0.1 and 0.5 μm) with a low pressure drop, however the invention is not limited in this regard.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A nanofiber comprising a continuous matrix material and a second material, the second material being embedded within and/or located on the surface of the continuous matrix material, the continuous matrix material being an organic polymer, and the nanofiber comprising the first material and the second material in a first material-to-second material weight ratio of at least 1:2.

2 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of discrete domains of the second material are embedded within the continuous matrix material.

3 . The nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein the discrete domains are charged or chargeable.

4 . The nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of discrete domains comprise a plurality of nanoparticles.

5 . The nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein fewer than 50% of the discrete domains are aggregated.

6 . The nanofiber of claim 5 , wherein fewer than 25% of the discrete domains are aggregated.

7 . The nanofiber of claim 6 , wherein fewer than 10% of the discrete domains are aggregated.

8 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the first material-to-second material weight ratio is at least 1:1.

9 . The nanofiber of claim 8 , wherein the first material-to-second material weight ratio is at least 2:1.

10 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the second material comprises metal, metal oxide, ceramic, or a combination thereof.

11 . The nanofiber of claim 10 , wherein the second material comprises ceramic.

12 . The nanofiber of claim 10 , wherein the second material comprises a metal oxide ceramic.

13 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the organic polymer comprises polyacrylonitrile (PAN) or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

14 . The nanofiber of claim 2 , wherein the average diameter of the plurality of discrete domains is 1 nm to 200 nm.

15 . The nanofiber of claim 14 , wherein the average diameter of the plurality of discrete domains is 1 nm to 100 nm.

16 . The nanofiber of claim 1 , wherein the nanofiber has a diameter of at most 1,000 nm and an aspect ratio of at least 100.

17 . A fluid composition comprising (i) an organic polymer, (ii) a ceramic component, and (iii) a solvent;
the ceramic component comprising a plurality of ceramic nanoparticles, a ceramic precursor, or a combination thereof, and being suspended and/or dissolved in the solvent; the solvent being an organic or aqueous solvent; the organic polymer being dissolved in the solvent; and the ceramic component and the organic polymer being present in the fluid composition in a ceramic component-to-organic polymer weight ratio of at least 1:2.

18 . The fluid composition of claim 17 , wherein the organic polymer is present in the fluid composition at a concentration of at least 5 wt. %.

19 . The fluid composition of claim 18 , wherein the organic polymer is present in the fluid composition at a concentration of at least 10 wt. %.

20 . The fluid composition of claim 18 , wherein the ceramic component-to-organic polymer weight ratio of at least 1:1.

Assignees

• Univ Cornell

Inventors

• Joo Yong Lak
• Cho Daehwan
• Naydich Alexander

Classifications

• D10B2321/06

  polymers of unsaturated alcohols, e.g. polyvinyl alcohol, or of their acetals or ketals · CPC title

• Y10T428/298

  Physical dimension · CPC title

• D04H1/728

  by electro-spinning {(electro-spinning methods and apparatus D01D5/0007)} · CPC title

• B01D39/08

  Filter cloth, i.e. woven, knitted or interlaced material (metallic B01D39/10) · CPC title

• B01D71/42

  Polymers of nitriles, e.g. polyacrylonitrile · CPC title