Researchers at the University of Texas – Pan American have published the first results of their work utilizing Forcespinning Technology to fabricate polymeric nanofibres and metallic nanowires. The article, which appears in the November issue of the peer-reviewed journal Materials Today, was authored by Drs. Karen Lozano and Kamal Sarkar.

Forcespinning is a patent pending technology that utilizes centrifugal force instead of hot air or an electrostatic charge to draw submicron fibres from liquid state materials. In the paper, the researchers outline their results including average fibre diameters of 300 nanometres, homogenous fibres, and dramatic productivity increases. Furthermore, they demonstrate the versatility of the technology by processing a broad range of materials from polyesters to biopolymers to pure metals.

“Nanofibers and nanowires have incredible properties and applications in aerospace, filtration, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and nonwovens,” says Dr. Karen Lozano. “We found a very unique and simple way to process them that overcame many previous limitations, which enabled a broader range of materials, simple and repeatable results, greater control over fibre diameter, and unparalled productive capacity,” she went on to say.

In 2010, Forcespinning received the Silver Award from The World’s Best Technology Showcase and was recognized as a 2010 Innovation That Will Change the Way You Manufacture by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. The technology has been licensed by the university to FibeRio Technology Corporation, a company that recently announced the launch of the Cyclone L-1000 Series, the first commercially available nanofibre production equipment that facilitates Forcespinning.