9 – Developments in nanofibers for the new millennium

From the view of fiber science and technology, the organized structure found in natural fibrous materials (cotton, wool, and silk) (“fiber system”) are made up from a hierarchical structure of micro-fiber, or to use the keyword of today, the nanofiber, as the basic unit. Today, fiber-related fields develop widely in relation to the living body (bio), sugar chains, organs, environment, and IT (information). There are a vast number of structural models in nature: the cobweb, iridescence, supra-structures in the skin of tunicates, the flexibility of bamboo, leaves of plants, and the structure and functions of bio-organs. Since developments of new functionalized fibers are based on sophisticated biomimetics, the developments lead to second-dimensional functions and then on to supra-organized fibers or fibers amalgamated in third-dimensional functions to fourth-dimensional functionalized intelligent fibers. These can control environmental changes and utilize various “new system” in fiber science and its related fields. These could lead to the creation of ultra-fiber mimicking biosystems and having functions and structures better than those of the original biosystem (super-biomimetics fibers). Here, the “nanofiber” becomes important. This chapter presents the possible development of fiber technology in the 21st century by integrating different fields.