Dispersion of sepiolite rods in nanofibers by electrospinning

In the nanotechnology area, electrospinning has been used as a way of dispersing quasi-spherical nanoparticles, to overcome the ubiquitous problems of cluster formation. Here, we report on the first application of electrospinning to include elongated, needle-like nanoparticles in polymer fibers by using sepiolite as a model system. Our results show sepiolite dispersion at the nanoscale along the fiber axis. Potential applications of this work are in the fabrication of nanostructured materials with anisotropic properties.