Electrospinning technology, which was previously known as a scientific interdisciplinary research approach, is now ready to move towards a practice-based interdisciplinary approach in a variety of fields, progressively. Electrospun nanofiber-applied products are made directly from a nonwoven fabric-based membranes prepared from polymeric liquids involving the application of sufficiently high voltages during electrospinning. Today, electrospun nanofiber-based materials are of remarkable interest across multiple fields of applications, such as in electronics, sensors, functional garments, sound proofing, filters, wound dressing and scaffolds. This article presents such a review for summarizing the current progress on the manufacturing scalability of electrospun nanofibers and the commercialization of electrospun nanofiber products by dedicated companies globally. Despite the clear potential and limitless possibilities for electrospun nanofiber applications, the uptake of electrospinning by the industry is still limited due to the challenges in the manufacturing and turning of electrospun nanofibers into physical products. The recent developments in the field of electrospinning, such as the prominent nonwoven technology, personal views and the potential path forward for the growth of commercially applied products based on electrospun nanofibers, are also highlighted.

This research focused on the fabrication of castor-based polyurethane composite (CPUC) filled with waste carbon tyres (WCT) with particle size of 200 µm that acts as reinforcing filler. WCT was first sieved using a sieving machine to obtain uniform particle size. WCT loading was varied at 0wt%, 2wt%, 4wt% and 6wt%. The effect of WCT loading in CPUC was evaluated based on their foam reaction time, apparent density, rheology, compression strength, morphology and thermal properties. The foam reaction time of CPUC achieved was in the range of industrial PU grout’s properties. The rheology index and compression strength of CPUC decreased with increasing WCT loading. CPUC with 2wt% of WCT loading achieved the optimum compression strength where it increased from 2.58 MPa to 3.39 MPa with the improvement of 31.40% compared to neat PU. FESEM micrograph showed that CPUC consists of closed foam cell indicating the rigidity of the CPUC. The addition of 2wt% of WCT resulted in achieving the optimum thermal stability of CPUC where CPUC2 had the highest char residue content. The high residue content indicated that CPUC2 had the lowest decomposition of elements as WCT acted as heat barrier in CPUC matrix thus increasing the thermal stability of CPUC2.

In recent times, nanofibers have attracted the attention of researchers due to their pronounced micro and nano structural characteristics that enable the development of advanced materials that have sophisticated applications. The production of nanofibers by the electrospinning process is influenced both by the electrostatic forces and the viscoelastic behavior of the polymer. Process parameters, like solution feed rate, applied voltage, nozzle-collector distance, and spinning environment, and material properties, like solution concentration, viscosity, surface tension, conductivity, and solvent vapor pressure, influence the structure and properties of electrospun nanofibers. Significant work has been done to characterize the properties of PALF nanofibers as a function of process and material parameters.