Electrospun molecular sieve/polymer composite fibers and polyethyleneoxide/hectorite/carbon nanotube composite fibers

The process of electrospinning, which produces fibers under the influence of high voltages, was applied to produce molecular sieve and polymer/molecular sieve composite fibers. Organic templates and silica sources were used to obtain SBA-15 and DAM-1 fibers with diameters ranging from a micron to a few hundreds of nanometers. This technique was extended to produce polymer-molecular sieve composite fibers using electroluminescent polymer MEH-PPV and SBA-15. Vibrational spectroscopy of the composites suggested an increase in the order of the polymer in the composite. The blue shift in the fluorescence of MEH-PPV the composites was characterized by macro and micro fluorescence. Possible prevention of aggregation in the polymer in the composite was believed to be the-reason for changes in the optical properties.; Polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites were prepared by intercalating PEO between the layers of hectorite clay. Nanocomposite fibers with average diameters of 200 nm were electrospun from PEO/hectorite clay composites with 5, 10, 20 and 30 wt% clay. The increase in the interlamellar space of the clay was consistent with intercalation of PEO between the hectorite layers. The fibers were characterized by SEM, DSC and FTIR spectroscopy. This was extended to electrospin composites of PEO/SWNTs and PEO/hectorite/SWNT composites to form nanofibers on the order of 150–200 nm. The Raman spectra of the composite fibers suggest possible debundling of the carbon nanotubes.