Electrospun PVA nanofibers doped with titania nanoparticles in plasmon-coupled fluorescence studies: An eco-friendly and cost-effective transition from 2D nano thin films to 1D nanofibers

We report the synthesis of electrospun PVA nanofibers doped with Titania nanoparticles (NPs) utilized in plasmon-coupled fluorescence studies to obtain augmented enhancements. Amongst the three NPs used for the study, the highest enhancements (~ 150-fold) was achieved utilizing TiCN-doped nanofibers. The high enhancements from nanofibers allowed us to compare it with 2D thin films. The nanofibers presented emission enhancements that are greater and highly polarized even at increased concentrations of PVA vis-à-vis thin films that show dual polarizations at higher concentrations of PVA. These results show that 1D nanofibers can be used as green & low-cost replacements to 2D nano thin films. Graphical abstract