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Coaxial electrospun nanofibers of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/polyaniline filled with multi‐walled carbon nanotubes
Author(s) -
Sarvi A.,
Chimello V.,
Silva A.B.,
Bretas R.E.S.,
Sundararaj U.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
polymer composites
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1548-0569
pISSN - 0272-8397
DOI - 10.1002/pc.22768
Subject(s) - materials science , nanofiber , composite material , differential scanning calorimetry , electrospinning , carbon nanotube , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polyaniline , polyaniline nanofibers , piezoelectricity , polymer , chemical engineering , polymerization , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Core‐shell nanofibers of poly (vinylidene fluoride)/polyaniline/multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (PVDF/PANi/MWCNTs) have been produced using the coaxial electrospinning technique. The nanofibers were semiconductive and had better piezoelectric properties than pure PVDF nanofibers. Piezoelectric PVDF nanofibers are capable of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, which can be stored in charge storage devices. However, PVDF is not conductive and therefore, a conductive associate material is needed to transfer accumulated static charges into the capacitor. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were carried out to study the crystalline β‐phase of PVDF. There was an increase in β‐phase in the electrospun PVDF nanofibers filled with MWCNTs as compared with compression molded samples of neat PVDF. Incorporation of PANi as an intrinsically conductive polymer (ICP) and MWCNTs as conductive nanofiller helps the movement of static charges. Core‐shell nanofibers had conductivities of about seven orders of magnitude higher than simple electrospun nanofibers. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1198–1203, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers