Electrospun porous engineered nanofiber materials: A versatile medium for energy and environmental applications

Abstract

Energy shortage and environmental deterioration have become two intractable global issues with the eruptive evolution of industry and technology. Porous-engineered electrospun nanofiber materials with highly tailored pore traps, topological porous channels, and high surface areas have garnered great concern and become a central topic for environmental and energy applications. Herein, a comprehensive overview covering the state-of-the-art developments made in the rational design of 1D, 2D, and 3D electrospun porous nanofiber materials and their progression toward energy and environmental applications is presented. First, the principles of electrospinning for constructing customizable intra- and inter-fiber porous architectures are presented. Second, a detailed retrospective on ingenious designs and strategies for fabricating polymeric, carbon, and ceramic porous nanofiber materials is given. Third, emerging environmental and energy applications of porous nanofiber materials, particularly in significant areas of energy storage and conversion, gas adsorption and separation, organic solvent nanofiltration, electrochemical catalysis, and water treatment are discussed. Finally, the challenges, future perspectives, and plausible research directions of porous nanofiber materials are highlighted. This comprehensive review is anticipated to be valuable in the context of understanding the design and synthesis of application-driven porous nanofiber materials for the onerous demands of energy and environmental processes in the coming decades.