Synthesis and characterization of cobalt chloride/poly(ethylene oxide) electrospun hybrid nanofibers

Cobalt chloride (CoCl 2 )/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) hybrid nanofibers with diameters ranging from 500 to 700 nm were successfully synthesized by a simple and versatile approach of electrospinning. The CoCl 2 /PEO hybrid nanofibers were studied by different techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). One dimensional (1-D) surface roughness average (Ra 1-D ) along a typical nanofiber was analyzed to be 57 nm. The chemical interactions between the CoCl 2 and PEO molecules showed that polar environment provided by CoCl 2 for the PEO molecules aided the modification of CoCl 2 molecule configuration.