Adhesion and Permeation in Adhesive Nanofibrous Materials

纳米纤维材料具有高孔隙率和超高比表面积的独特特性，使其在高吸水性材料、滤膜、化学或生物防护装置、支持智能材料的膜以及组织工程支架等方面得到了广泛的应用。对纳米纤维材料进行功能化处理可以进一步提高其性能。在拟议的研究中，我们将开发和表征在干燥和/或潮湿环境中具有出色粘合性能的纳米纤维。海洋贻贝分泌的粘附性蛋白具有很强的结合性能，这激发了过去十年来对材料表面进行工程设计以赋予其优异的粘附性的大量工作。以贻贝为灵感的聚多巴胺材料已被用于各种材料表面的功能化。*与其他类型的材料相比，纳米纤维材料的优势在于它们提供了一种独特的结构，具有柔韧性和良好的机械强度，以及高孔隙率和比表面积。另一方面，纳米纤维材料的曲折结构使这项研究比固体和平板材料更具挑战性。因此，这项研究的长期目标是表征纳米纤维材料的结构、表面特性和传输特性之间的关系。短期目标是：1)开发具有良好粘合性能的功能性纳米纤维膜；2)表征纳米纤维材料的形态、结构和粘合性能；3)研究纳米纤维结构中的多尺度传输及其对纳米纤维材料粘接性能稳定性的影响。*拟议的研究将涉及培训五名研究生(三名硕士和两名博士)。预计这些学生将获得生物材料开发、表征和计算机建模方面的技能。他们还将通过跨学科工作提高他们在陈述、科学写作、解决问题和团队合作方面的技能。*拟议的研究将为研究功能纳米纤维材料的表面和传输现象开发一种新的多尺度方法。拟议的研究结果将为开发新的纳米纤维材料提供基础，以满足过滤/分离、伤口护理和组织再生等高级应用中的新需求。拟议的研究将带来商业和经济效益：通过开发高附加值产品；省和加拿大的纺织和材料行业将增强其竞争力，并增加其在生物医学和技术部门的纺织品市场份额，为该国的经济增长和创造就业做出贡献。**

Nanofibrous materials have unique features of high porosity and ultra-high surface-to-volume ratio, which allow them to be used in a wide variety of applications, including highly absorptive materials, filtration membranes, chemically or biologically protective devices, membranes supporting smart materials, and scaffold for tissue engineering. Functionalization of nanofibrous materials can further enhance their performance. In the proposed research, we will develop and characterize nanofibres with outstanding adhesive properties in a dry and/or a wet environment. The strong binding properties of the adhesive protein secreted by marine mussels have inspired tremendous work in the last decade to engineer material surfaces to endow excellent adhesive properties. Mussel-inspired polydopamine-based materials have been used to functionalize various material surfaces. *** The advantages of nanofibrous materials, as compared to other types of materials, are that they provide a unique structure with flexibility yet good mechanical strength, as well as high porosity and surface areas. The tortuous structure of nanofibrous materials, on the other hand, makes the studies even more challenging than solid and flat materials. Therefore, the long-term objective of the proposed research is to characterize the relationship between the structures, surface properties, and the transport properties of nanofibrous materials. The short term objectives are 1) to develop functional nanofibrous membranes with excellent adhesive properties, 2) to characterize the morphology, structure and adhesive properties of the nanofibrous materials, and 3) to study the multi-scale transport in nanofibrous structures and its impact on the stability of the adhesive properties of nanofibrous materials. *** The proposed research will involve the training of five graduate (three MSc and two PhD) students. The students are expected to gain skills in biomaterials development, characterization and computer modeling. They will also improve their skills in presentation, scientific writing, problem solving and teamwork through the interdisciplinary work.*** The proposed research will develop a novel multi-scale approach for the studies of surface and transport phenomena in functional nanofibrous materials. The results of the proposed research will provide groundwork in the development of new nanofibrous materials to meet emerging needs in advanced applications, including filtration/separation, wound care and tissue regenerations. The proposed studies will lead to commercial and economic benefits: by developing high value-added products; the provincial and Canadian textile and material industry will enhance its competitiveness and increase its proportion of the textile market in biomedical and technical sectors, contributing to the country's economic growth and job creation.**