This dissertation is centered on the development and characterization of electrospun nanofiber probes. These probes are envisioned to act like sponges, drawing up fluids from microcapillaries, small organisms, and, ideally, from a single cell. Thus, the probe performance significantly depends on the materials ability to readily absorb liquids. Electrospun nanofibers gained much attention in recent decades, and have been applied in biomedical, textile, filtration, and military applications. However, most nanofibers are produced in the form of randomly deposited non-woven fiber mats. Recently, different electrospinning setups have been proposed to control alignment of electrospun nanofibers. However, reproducibility of the mechanical and transport properties of electrospun nanofiber yarns is difficult to achieve. Before this study, there were no reports demonstrating that the electrospun yarns have reproducible transport and mechanical properties. For the probe applications, one needs to have yarns with identical characteristics. The absorption properties of probes are of the main concern. These challenges are addressed in this thesis, and the experimental protocol and characterization methods are developed to study electrospun nanofiber yarns
