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Fibers, Volume 9, Issue 6 (June 2021) – 6 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): Zeolite composite nanofiber meshes were fabricated by the electrospinning method for the adsorption of indoxyl sulfate (IS)—a toxin associated with chronic kidney disease. Notably, a zeolite with an appropriate pore size, counter cations, and a silica to aluminum ratio exhibited the highest adsorption capacity. The composite nanofiber mesh exhibited an IS adsorption capacity of 107 μg/g. The proposed meshes have the potential to be utilized in a new approach to remove IS from the bloodstream without requiring specialized equipment. View this paper
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17 pages, 8513 KiB  
Article
Development of a Robot-Based Multi-Directional Dynamic Fiber Winding Process for Additive Manufacturing Using Shotcrete 3D Printing
by Norman Hack, Mohammad Bahar, Christian Hühne, William Lopez, Stefan Gantner, Noor Khader and Tom Rothe
Fibers 2021, 9(6), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib9060039 - 8 Jun 2021
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6710
Abstract
The research described in this paper is dedicated to the use of continuous fibers as reinforcement for additive manufacturing, particularly using Shotcrete. Composites and in particular fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are increasingly present in concrete reinforcement. Their corrosion resistance, high tensile strength, low [...] Read more.
The research described in this paper is dedicated to the use of continuous fibers as reinforcement for additive manufacturing, particularly using Shotcrete. Composites and in particular fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) are increasingly present in concrete reinforcement. Their corrosion resistance, high tensile strength, low weight, and high flexibility offer an interesting alternative to conventional steel reinforcement, especially with respect to their use in Concrete 3D Printing. This paper presents an initial development of a dynamic robot-based manufacturing process for FRP concrete reinforcement as an innovative way to increase shape freedom and efficiency in concrete construction. The focus here is on prefabricated fiber reinforcement, which is concreted in a subsequent additive process to produce load-bearing components. After the presentation of the fabrication concept for the integration of FRP reinforcement and the state of the art, a requirements analysis regarding the mechanical bonding behavior in concrete is carried out. This is followed by a description of the development of a dynamic fiber winding process and its integration into an automated production system for individualized fiber reinforcement. Next, initial tests for the automated application of concrete by means of Shotcrete 3D Printing are carried out. In addition, an outlook describes further technical development steps and provides an outline of advanced manufacturing concepts for additive concrete manufacturing with integrated fiber reinforcement. Full article
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11 pages, 2833 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost Electrodeposition of Size-Tunable Single-Crystal ZnO Nanorods
by Elias Sakellis, Antonis Markopoulos, Christos Tzouvelekis, Manolis Chatzigeorgiou, Anastasios Travlos and Nikos Boukos
Fibers 2021, 9(6), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib9060038 - 7 Jun 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3160
Abstract
In this paper we report a low cost, simple, electrochemical method for large-area growth of single crystal ZnO nanorods. The method utilizes a metallic zinc foil as the source of the necessary zinc ions for ZnO growth on indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) glass [...] Read more.
In this paper we report a low cost, simple, electrochemical method for large-area growth of single crystal ZnO nanorods. The method utilizes a metallic zinc foil as the source of the necessary zinc ions for ZnO growth on indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) glass slides. The method is thoroughly discussed and investigated varying all the parameters involved. The resulting ZnO nanorods are highly oriented along c-axis and densely packed, while their length and diameter can be tuned by varying the growth parameters. Two different types of seed layers on the ITO glass slides are tested. A seed layer made by spin coating of ZnO nanoparticles results in a twofold increase of the ZnO nanorod surface density as compared with a ZnO thin film seed layer by physical vapor deposition. Additionally, the effect of oxygen supply during electrodeposition was investigated as a crucial regulatory parameter not only for the geometrical and topological characteristics of the ZnO nano-arrays but for their physical properties as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Characterization of Nanomaterials)
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11 pages, 2524 KiB  
Article
Zeolite Composite Nanofiber Mesh for Indoxyl Sulfate Adsorption toward Wearable Blood Purification Devices
by Makoto Sasaki, Yihua Liu and Mitsuhiro Ebara
Fibers 2021, 9(6), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib9060037 - 3 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3940
Abstract
A nanofiber mesh was prepared for the adsorption of indoxyl sulfate (IS), a toxin associated with chronic kidney disease. Removing IS is highly demanded for efficient blood purification. The objective of this study is to develop a zeolite composite nanofiber mesh to remove [...] Read more.
A nanofiber mesh was prepared for the adsorption of indoxyl sulfate (IS), a toxin associated with chronic kidney disease. Removing IS is highly demanded for efficient blood purification. The objective of this study is to develop a zeolite composite nanofiber mesh to remove IS efficiently. Eight zeolites with different properties were used for IS adsorption, where a zeolite with a pore size of 7 Å, H+ cations, and a silica to aluminum ratio of 240 mol/mol exhibited the highest adsorption capacity. This was primarily attributed to its suitable silica to aluminum ratio. The zeolites were incorporated in biocompatible poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) nanofibers, and a zeolite composite nanofiber mesh was successfully fabricated via electrospinning. The nanofiber mesh exhibited an IS adsorption capacity of 107 μg/g, while the adsorption capacity by zeolite increased from 208 μg/g in powder form to 386 μg/g when dispersed in the mesh. This also led to an increase in cell viability from 86% to 96%. These results demonstrated that this zeolite composite nanofiber mesh can be safely and effectively applied in wearable blood purification devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Fibers and Composites)
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7 pages, 1914 KiB  
Article
Properties of Scalable Chirped-Pulse Optical Comb in Erbium-Doped Ultrafast All-Fiber Ring Laser
by Ilya O. Orekhov, Dmitriy A. Dvoretskiy, Stanislav G. Sazonkin, Yan Z. Ososkov, Anton O. Chernutsky, Aleksander Y. Fedorenko, Lev K. Denisov and Valeriy E. Karasik
Fibers 2021, 9(6), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib9060036 - 2 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2713
Abstract
We report on a scalable chirped-pulse Er-doped all-fiber laser, passively mode-locked by single-wall carbon nitride nanotubes. The average output power is ~15 mW, which corresponds to a peak power of ~77 W, and pulse energy of ~1.9 nJ and was achieved using a [...] Read more.
We report on a scalable chirped-pulse Er-doped all-fiber laser, passively mode-locked by single-wall carbon nitride nanotubes. The average output power is ~15 mW, which corresponds to a peak power of ~77 W, and pulse energy of ~1.9 nJ and was achieved using a single amplification stage. We observed chirped-pulse generation with a duration of ~24.6 ps at a relatively low repetition rate of ~7.9 MHz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of ~69 dB. To characterize the short-term stability of the obtained regime, we have measured the relative intensity noise of the laser, which is <−107 dBc/Hz in the range of 3 Hz–1000 kHz. It should be noted that the standard deviation of root mean square of average power does not exceed a magnitude of 0.9% for 3 h of measurement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fiber Laser Sources)
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25 pages, 6650 KiB  
Article
Application of Capillary Polypropylene Membranes for Microfiltration of Oily Wastewaters: Experiments and Modeling
by Wirginia Tomczak and Marek Gryta
Fibers 2021, 9(6), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib9060035 - 2 Jun 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3538
Abstract
Oily wastewaters are considered as one of the most dangerous types of environmental pollution. In the present study, the microfiltration (MF) process of model emulsions and real oily wastewaters was investigated. For this purpose, capillary polypropylene (PP) membranes were used. The experiments were [...] Read more.
Oily wastewaters are considered as one of the most dangerous types of environmental pollution. In the present study, the microfiltration (MF) process of model emulsions and real oily wastewaters was investigated. For this purpose, capillary polypropylene (PP) membranes were used. The experiments were conducted under transmembrane pressure (TMP) and feed flow rate (VF) equal to 0.05 MPa and 0.5 m/s, respectively. It was found that the used membranes ensured a high-quality permeate with turbidity equal to about 0.4 NTU and oil concentration of 7–15 mg/L. As expected, a significant decrease in the MF process performance was noted. However, it is shown that the initial decline of permeate flux could be slightly increased by increasing the feed temperature from 25 °C to 50 °C. Furthermore, Hermia’s models were used to interpret the fouling phenomenon occurring in studied experiments. It was determined that cake formation was the dominant fouling mechanism during filtration of both synthetic and real feeds. Through detailed studies, we present different efficient methods of membrane cleaning. Results, so far, are very encouraging and may have an important impact on increasing the use of polypropylene MF membranes in oily wastewater treatments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hollow Fiber Membranes 2021)
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30 pages, 4381 KiB  
Review
Depolarization of Light in Optical Fibers: Effects of Diffraction and Spin-Orbit Interaction
by Nikolai I. Petrov
Fibers 2021, 9(6), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/fib9060034 - 1 Jun 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4950
Abstract
Polarization is measured very often to study the interaction of light and matter, so the description of the polarization of light beams is of both practical and fundamental interest. This review discusses the polarization properties of structured light in multimode graded-index optical fibers, [...] Read more.
Polarization is measured very often to study the interaction of light and matter, so the description of the polarization of light beams is of both practical and fundamental interest. This review discusses the polarization properties of structured light in multimode graded-index optical fibers, with an emphasis on the recent advances in the area of spin-orbit interactions. The basic physical principles and properties of twisted light propagating in a graded index fiber are described: rotation of the polarization plane, Laguerre–Gauss vector beams with polarization-orbital angular momentum entanglement, splitting of degenerate modes due to spin-orbit interaction, depolarization of light beams, Berry phase and 2D and 3D degrees of polarizations, etc. Special attention is paid to analytical methods for solving the Maxwell equations of a three-component field using perturbation analysis and quantum mechanical approaches. Vector and tensor polarization degrees for the description of strongly focused light beams and their geometrical interpretation are also discussed. Full article
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