Electrospinning Film Of Polyaniline/Carbon Nanotube And Its Performance Characterization

With its unique advantages electrospinning has become the the main processto prepare continuous nanofibers. The research has been made to explore theoptimal parameters of the electrospinning of polyaniline (PANI) and multiwalledcarbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Different tests were used to investigate thesurface morphology, high temperature performance and electrical properties ofthe electrospinning film. Results show that the electrospinning film we preparedhas great potential of application in sensor.In this artical a new type of electric spinning device was used to preparenanofibers. Compare to conventional equipment, larger size of nanofiber filmcould be prepared.Polyethylene oxide (PEO) was used as electrospun polymers toexplore the relationship between electrospinning parameters and morphology andits average diameter of the nanofiber.Polyaniline was prepared by oxidation-reduction method.Respectively, PEOand PAN were used as spun matrix.Nanofiber films prepared through theregulation of different electrospinning parameters. The surface morphology wasanalyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To Determine the optimalelectrospinning process parameters,the software of Image J was used to measurethe average diameter its distribution range.The conductive properties of the film is weakened because of Polyanilinesolubility as well as the porous structure of the spun film. Therefore, in base ofPANI/PEO and PANI/PAN electrospinning system, different content of carbonnanotube was added to enhance the conductivity and the relationship betweenfiber diameter and the MWCNTs was analyzed.Compared to other solvents,N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) could improve thesolubility of polyaniline, but its poor volatility and easy to form gel affect thespinning effect. The two methods of Mixing with different amount of DMF andheat up the electrospinning system was used to improve this situation.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA),nano-tensile test and resistivity test were used to investigate the film of differentElectrospinning parameters. The advantages and disadvantages were comparedwith each other, the followings are the conclusions:For this equipment,the fiber diameter becomes larger with theelectrospinning voltage, rotor speed, the receiving substrate distance, theelectrospinning solution viscosity increases. However, with increasing nanotubecontent, fiber diameter decrease. When PEO was used as electrospinning matrix, we could find the nanofibers continuity is poor by SEM;PAN used as the matrix could improve this intuation; When PEO was usedas electrospinning matrix, there is a gap between the thermal stability of spunfilms compared with PAN; The mechanical properties of the films becomesworse as fiber diameter and the content of nannotube increases; Due to limitedsolubility of Polyaniline, the resistivity of the films is large, the film resistivitydecreases four orders of magnitude as nanotube was added;When NMP was used as solvent, solubility of polyaniline was improved aswell as the diameter of the nanofibers was effectively reduced through heating upthe electrospinning equipment, and most important of all,the resistivity of thefilms reduced.