Developments in Electrospinning of Nanofiber Yarns

Electrospinning technology has great advantages in the preparation of continuous nanofiber materials. Nanofiber yarn has better performance in fiber orientation and mechanical properties than traditional nanofiber membrane. In this paper, the spinning principle and yarn structure of electrospun nanofiber yarns in recent years are summarized. In terms of yarn structure, nanofiber yarns can be divided into pure nanofiber yarns and micro/nanofiber composite yarns. Based on the spinning principle, pure nanofiber yarns are divided into orientation type and twist type, and micro/nanofiber composite yarns are divided into core-spun yarn, wrapped yarn, and blended yarn. Through the analysis of devices and microstructure of nanofiber yarns, it is found that the micro/nanofiber composite yarns can not only retain the functionality of nanometer fibers but also meet the requirements of weaving and knitting processes, which are expected to be used in practical production as high-performance functional yarns.