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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]

Lipid metabolism and signaling play pivotal functions in biology and disease development. Despite this, currently available optical techniques are limited in their ability to directly visualize the lipidome in tissues. In this study, opto‐lipidomics, a new approach to optical molecular tissue imaging is introduced. The capability of vibrational Raman spectroscopy is expanded to identify individual lipids in complex tissue matrices through correlation with desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) – mass spectrometry (MS) imaging in an integrated instrument. A computational pipeline of inter‐modality analysis is established to infer lipidomic information from optical vibrational spectra. Opto‐lipidomic imaging of transient cerebral ischemia‐reperfusion injury in a murine model of ischemic stroke demonstrates the visualization and identification of lipids in disease with high molecular specificity using Raman scattered light. Furthermore, opto‐lipidomics in a handheld fiber‐optic Raman probe is deployed and demonstrates real‐time classification of bulk brain tissues based on specific lipid abundances. Opto‐lipidomics opens a host of new opportunities to study lipid biomarkers for diagnostics, prognostics, and novel therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]