Instruments for characterization of liquid transport in fibrous and membrane materials

拟议的研究将表征纤维和膜结构，特别是纳米多孔结构的结构和传输行为之间的关系。 软质多孔纤维材料适用于涉及运输、过滤、分离和吸收的应用，因为它们具有大的表面积并且它们的孔分布具有各种各样的长度尺度。由纳米纤维制成的生物膜在许多技术应用领域具有潜在的用途，例如化学或生物防御、伤口敷料、选择性分离、靶向药物递送和组织工程支架。它们的异质、各向异性和可压缩结构使它们用途广泛，但对于试图控制和优化其特定最终用途的性能的研究人员来说，这是一个挑战。因此，拟议的工作将集中在纤维结构和生物膜中的流体输运的基础研究，并将应用创新的多尺度方法来弥合我们对纤维材料的宏观输运行为的认识与我们对材料微观成分之间相互作用的认识之间的差距。 建议书中要求提供两件设备。Kruss KF 100 SF单纤维张力仪用于自动测量单纤维（其尺寸为微米级）粉末、织物、片材和薄膜的小样品的表面张力和界面张力、动态接触角。要求自动毛细管流动孔隙率仪自动表征织物、膜和其他多孔结构/材料在拉伸、压缩或高温下的孔隙率、孔径和分布、空气和液体渗透性。 该研究将导致更好地了解复杂材料的性质和行为，包括纳米多孔结构和生物膜，并将为开发新材料/产品提供基础，用于运输，过滤，分离，保护，吸附和吸收等应用，这些过程经常在医疗/保健和其他技术领域中使用。

The proposed research will characterize the relationship between the structure and transport behavior of fibrous and membrane structures, especially of nanoporous structures.       Soft and porous fibrous materials are suitable for applications involving transport, filtration, separation, and absorption because they have large surface areas and their pore distributions have a wide variety of length scales. Biomembranes made of nanofibres are potentially useful in many technical application areas such as chemical or bio-defense, wound dressing, selective separation, targeted drug delivery and scaffold for tissue engineering. Their heterogeneous, anisotropic and compressible structures make them versatile, yet challenging to researchers trying to control and optimize their properties for specific end uses. The proposed work will therefore focus on fundamental studies of fluid transport in fibrous structures and biomembranes, and will apply innovative multi-scale approaches to bridge the gap between our knowledge of the macro transport behavior of fibrous materials, and our knowledge of the interaction among micro constituents of materials.       Two pieces of equipment is requested in the proposal. A  Kruss KF100SF Single Fibre Tensiometer is requested for automatic measurements of surface and interfacial tension, dynamic contact angle of single fibres (their size being in the order of micros) powders, small samples of fabrics, and sheets and membranes. An Automated Capillary Flow Porometer is requested to automatically characterize porosity, pore sizes and distributions, air and liquid permeability of textiles, membranes, and other porous structures/materials under tension, compression, or elevated temperature.     The research will lead to a better understanding of the properties and behaviors of complex materials, including nano-porous structures and biomembranes, and will provide groundwork for developing new materials/products for applications involving transport, filtration, separation, protection, adsorption and absorption, which are processes frequently resorted to in the medical/healthcare and other technical fields.