Harvard University develops portable nanofiber spinning equipment

Recently, researchers at Harvard University have developed a lightweight and portable nanofiber spinning device.

The portable nano-spinning equipment is highly efficient and can precisely control the orientation. The spun nanofibers can be used for wound dressing on the battlefield, spinning of custom fabrics, etc. Researchers have built nanofiber scaffolds by adjusting fiber orientation and deposition. This scaffold can simulate highly oriented tissue in the body and can be tailored to suit a variety of shapes.

Unlike other spinning equipment, which requires many parameters to be set, this stretch spinning method requires only one process parameter—setting the solution viscosity to control the fiber diameter—which greatly simplifies the use of the work bench and improves the adaptability of the equipment.

The system can be point-to-point spinning, and custom-produced nanofibers can be extended to process spray sportswear for the gradual heating or cooling of the athlete's body, or for the spinning of sterile bandages directly attached to the wound and fabrics with locally variable mechanical properties. Researchers say that the clothing they wear can be made using stretch-spinning equipment. The team applied the fiber network directly to the knees of Barbie dolls. This application is still in a conceptual stage.