An analytical model for gas diffusion though nanoscale and microscale fibrous media

Gas diffusion in nanofibrous and microfibrous materials is of great interest in microfluidics. In this work, an analytical model is proposed, based on fractal theory, to quantify gas diffusion across fibrous media composed of nanofibers and microfibers. The fractal model is expressed in terms of pore area and tortuosity fractal dimensions, allowing statistical quantification of the geometrical structures of fibrous media. Knudsen diffusion in nanoscale pores is considered. To validate this model, moisture vapor diffusion rate through electrospun nanofibrous webs was measured using the inverted-cup method. The diffusivities predicted from the proposed model agree well with the experimental measurements in the present investigation and those reported in the literature for effective diffusivities of gas diffusion layers in fuel cells. Based on the model, the effect of porosity, fiber radius, and the ratio between the minimum and the maximum pore sizes on the effective diffusivity is analyzed

Subwavelength integrated photonics

In the late nineteenth century, Heinrich Hertz demonstrated that the electromagnetic properties of materials are intimately related to their structure at the subwavelength scale by using wire grids with centimetre spacing to manipulate metre-long radio waves. More recently, the availability of nanometre-scale fabrication techniques has inspired scientists to investigate subwavelength-structured metamaterials with engineered optical properties at much shorter wavelengths, in the infrared and visible regions of the spectrum. Here we review how optical metamaterials are expected to enhance the performance of the next generation of integrated photonic devices, and explore some of the challenges encountered in the transition from concept demonstration to viable technology