EFFECT OF TIO2 CONTENT AND PROCESS PARAMETERS ON ELECTROSPUN POLY(ACRYLONITRILE)/TIO2 NANOFIBRES

Poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) nanofibres containing variable amounts of titanium dioxide (TiO2) were successfully electrospun under different conditions to find optimum electrospinning conditions and to investigate the effects of TiO2 content and electrospinning parameters on the morphologies and thermal properties of PAN/TiO2 nanofibres. Various amounts of TiO2 were dispersed separately into PAN solutions. N, N'-dimethyl formamide (DMF) was used as a solvent. Electrospinning parameters such as applied voltage and tip to collector distance (TCD) were varied at a fixed PAN/TiO2 mixing ratio. The PAN/TiO2 nanofibres containing different amounts of TiO2 were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed TiO2 content and electrospinning parameters have direct influence on the morphologies of PAN/TiO2 nanofibres. Moreover, the addition of TiO2 significantly improved the thermal stability of the PAN nanofibres. 15 Refs.