Patent ID: 8551378

Claim:
A method for fabricating polymer nanofibers, the method comprising: introducing a polymer solution into a dispersion medium to form a dispersion, wherein the polymer solution comprises a polymer dissolved in a polymer solvent at an appropriate concentration, the dispersion medium comprises an appropriate anti-solvent for the polymer at an appropriate concentration such that the polymer solvent is miscible with the dispersion medium, and the dispersion comprises a plurality of polymer solution-inclusive droplets dispersed in the dispersion medium; and shearing the dispersion medium, wherein the droplets elongate and stiffen as the polymer solvent diffuses out from the droplets into the dispersion medium and the anti-solvent enters the elongated droplets by diffusion and precipitates the polymer, to form a plurality of polymer nanofibers having an aspect ratio of 100 or greater and an average diameter of 1 μm or less insoluble in the dispersion medium.