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Nanofiber mats with a high surface-to-volume ratio can be prepared by electrospinning. The Porosity is sometimes reported to be tunable by blending different materials, e.g., water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with not water-soluble poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN). Here, nanofiber mats were electrospun from different PAN:PEO ratios, using a wire-based electrospinning machine "Nanospider Lab". Investigations of the as-spun nanofiber mats as well as of membranes after washing off the water-soluble PEO by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed severe differences in the nanofiber mat morphologies, such as varying fiber diameters and especially non-fibrous areas in the carbonized nanofiber mats, depending on the amount of PEO in the nanofiber mat as well as the molecular weight of the PEO. Similarly, the ratio and molecular weight of PEO influenced the results of stabilization and carbonization. This paper discusses the possibility of tailoring nanofiber porosity for the potential use of PAN nanofiber mats in tissue engineering, filtration, and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine macroalgae are cultivated for diverse applications, from biofuel and biogas to biofiltering, from food to cosmetics or pharmaceuticals. Since macroalgae cultivation does not compete with land-based food crops for the necessary arable land or fresh water, it can increase the possibilities of sustainably harvested biomass. New technologies permit even land-based growing of marine macroalgae, besides the more common coastal or offshore cultivation. All these technologies, however, raise the question of how to provide ideal cultivation conditions, especially for adherent macroalgae, and of how to harvest them economically and sustainably. While some reports about growing marine macroalgae on diverse textile materials, such as polyester ropes or polypropylene nets, can be found in the literature, we report here for the first time on the growth of a marine macroalga on knitted fabrics. In our study, Ectocarpus sp. was cultivated in shallow rectangular cultivation vessels on knitted fabrics of various materials and structures revealing a significant influence of both parameters. Undesired changes of the pH value in the cultivation system as well as foam generation were attributed to textile auxiliaries. Considering all these influences, the best-suited knitted fabrics were identified as open-pore structures from hairy yarns made partly or completely from natural fibres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a growing world population and the concentration of citizens in big cities new methods of agriculture are required. Vertical farming attracts more attention in mending these growing problems. To enable a widespread use of low-cost hydroponic systems this study investigates minimal requirements for plants (different herbs and vegetables) in such a hydroponic vertical farming system and the suitability of textiles as sustainable substrates. Therefore, this study aims to investigate plant stress levels, germination rates and water usage in a low-cost hydroponic system with no special lightning in principle comparison with indoor cultivation in soil. The results of the pulse-amplitude-modulation (PAM) measurements as measure of photosynthetic performance indicate that the plants were equally stressed in hydroponic and in soil cultivation. In this respect, the photosynthetic quantum yield in both cultivation systems is on average only slightly lower than the values expected under optimal conditions. It was observed that chive and lovage not only had a significantly higher germination rate in the hydroponic system but also accumulated significantly more fresh as well as dry biomass, while spinach, thyme and marjoram showed higher germination rates in soil cultivation. The water consumption in the setup was considerably higher for the hydroponic system compared to indoor soil cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of textiles and three-dimensional printing offers a wide range of research and application areas, but only publications in combination with fused deposition modeling processes can be found so far. In this article the possibility of printing resin directly on textiles in the stereolithography process is presented. A broad spectrum of textiles and surfaces is examined to clearly present the feasibility. It was found that printing directly on most textiles can be performed without major difficulties, while problems were only observed on smooth surfaces and coatings on textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green microalgae Chlorella vulgaris can be used in diverse applications from food to biofuel production. Growing them in suspension leads to challenging harvesting and processing. One possibility to overcome these problems is growing them as biofilms, i.e. adhering on a surface. While previous experiments of several research groups concentrated on flat, rigid surfaces, partly chemically modified, here the possibility to grow them on different textile substrates was investigated which were shown to be suitable as substrates for germination and growth of higher plants. Microalgae were counted after one week, subdivided into adhered and suspended ones, to evaluate the ideal substrate for cultivation and harvesting. The results show clear differences between the different woven and knitted fabrics from diverse materials, indicating that especially an open-pore jute woven fabric increased the overall algae concentration by approx. a factor of 2 and increased the adhesion of C. vulgaris by a factor of 5-10, as compared to most other textile substrates under investigation, followed by two other hairy knitted fabrics. Such textile fabrics can thus be suggested as possible substrates for improved growth and harvesting of this microalga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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