Fibrernas

Fibrernas are a class of porous fibrous materials composed of interwoven ultrafine fibers that form a continuous network. Used in materials science and bioengineering, they produce mats or membranes with high surface area and interconnected porosity. Fibrernas can be made from polymers, natural polymers, or composite materials, and span thicknesses from micrometers to millimeters.

Production methods include electrospinning, melt-blowing, wet spinning, and phase separation. By selecting polymers, solvents, and processing parameters, researchers can tune fiber diameters, pore sizes, and overall mechanical properties. Alignment during fabrication can introduce anisotropy in fibrernas.

Characteristic features are high surface area to volume ratio, tunable porosity, and good permeability. Mechanical strength depends on fiber packing and inter-fiber bonding; post-treatments such as cross-linking can improve robustness. Biocompatibility and biodegradability are important for biomedical applications.

Applications cover filtration (air and liquid), tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressings, sensors, and energy storage components such as separators in batteries and supercapacitors. In filtration, the network can trap nanoscale particles while maintaining flow; in biomedicine, fibrernas support cell growth and tissue regeneration.

Origins of the term trace to advances in nanofiber research during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, research has expanded to multi-material composites, functionalized fibers, and scalable manufacturing. Current work focuses on reproducibility, mechanical integrity, and environmental sustainability of production.