: Introduction

Fibers are elongated objectswith a high axial ratio. This feature makes them very useful objects that can be utilized to make very functional materials for us human beings. As a result, billions of people use them every day. As a matter of fact, each of us would like to present ourselves in the best possibleway by wearing themost appealing clothing that ismade from the best possible fibers. Many of us need biodegradable sutures while undergoing surgery. All of us live in homes that require fibers for air and water filters. A handy fibrous wipe makes it easy to clean our kitchens. Indeed, the large variety of fibers creates an endless number of applications. We use both natural and synthetic fibers. Natural fibers have been used since ancient times. Recently, new bamboo fibers1 have been introduced to the market and are starting to be used widely. These fibers exhibit natural anti-microbial properties and can be used in many textile applications as well as in “green” composites. Cotton, silk, wool or flax (perhaps the oldest fiber in the world) have a strong presence in our daily life. Interestingly, known fibers are polymers. Most of them are just linear macromolecules. polymers are linear covalently bondedmolecules and are not aggregates as previously believed. He laid the grounds for synthetic organic polymer and fiber chemistry. Soon after this discovery the pioneering work of Dr. Carothers atDu Pont and Dr. Schlack at BASF brought us nylon 6,6 and nylon 6 polymer fibers respectively. Later on, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) manufacturing technology was developed byWhinfield and Dickson in 1946 and polyester staple fibers became available. Nylons and PET constitute major polymer fibers. Many other polymerswere developed over the years and many new macromolecules are synthesized every day.In the recent years there has been steady progress in developing new polymers and polymer fibers. Significant advances have been made in the production of high performance fibers, elastic fibers, and nanofibers from biopolymers by using a novel electrospinning method as well as high performance polyester fibers. As a result, the objective of this issue of Polymer Reviews is to bring the reader up to date and give an overview of these new developments.

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Recent Advances in Polymer Fibers