The use of polymer nanofibers for an enormous variety of applications, only to name a few, catalysis, filtration, acoustic insulation, light weight composites, sensors, packaging, textiles, drug encapsulation and regenerative medicine, grounds on solid motivations: their ultra-high surface-to-volume ratio, morphological and optical anisotropy, and other physico-chemical properties, such as charge transport, thermal conductivity, and molecular adsorption capability, can be significantly enhanced compared to bulk or macroscopic counterparts. These features make the nanofibers intriguing for all those technological fields where large surface is desired to maximize interaction with external liquid, gas, chemical, field (acoustic, light, electric, magnetic etc.) stimuli, biological media or even living systems.
The 3D nanostructured fibres have also been used to present functional molecules, enzymes or antibodies for biosensing, catalysis and cell capture.