| Electrospinning derived from electro spraying is a process by which sub-micron sized polymer fibers can be produced using an electrostatically driven jet of polymer solution. The fibers are collected as a non-woven mat and offer a high surface area to volume ratio. Electrically conducting organic polymers are a novel class of 'synthetic metals' that combine the chemical and mechanical properties of polymers with the electronic properties of metals and semiconductors. Electronically conducting polymers like polyaniline (PANI) have been studied extensively owing to their applications in energy conversion devices, sensors, electro chromic devices, electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI), electronic circuits etc. In this present study Polyaniline (PANI) blended with poly methylmethacrylate (PMMA) has been electrospun to form conducting nanofibers.; The goals of this research are to electrospin fibers of PANI/PMMA blends and study the effects of various electrospinning parameters on fiber formation. Effects of electrospinning parameters have been studied and optimized to obtain nano fibers. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) along with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to study the fiber morphology. The phase morphology of the fibers was investigated using TEM staining and Atomic Force Microscopy. From the TEM staining results it was observed that polyaniline forms aggregates in PMMA matrix along fiber length. A design of experiments (DOE) tool was used to optimize the process conditions and study the impact of the processing variables on the fiber morphology. |
