Miao Jianjun, Miyauchi Minoru, Dordick Jonathan S, Linhardt Robert J
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 Eighth Street, Troy, NY 12180, USA.
J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2012 Mar;12(3):2387-93. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2012.5710.
Electrospinning is a versatile technique to prepare polymer fibers in nano to micrometer size ranges using very high electrostatic fields. Electrospun nanofibers with tunable porosity and high specific surface area have various applications, including chromatographic supports for protein separation, biomedical devices, tissue engineering and drug delivery matrices, and as key components in solar cells and supercapacitors. Unspinnable materials such as nanoparticles, nanorods, nanotubes or rigid conducting polymers can also be electrospun into fibers through co-axial electrospinning. In this study, we have prepared core-sheath nanofibers utilizing co-axial electrospinning. The core portion of these electrospun fibers consists of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and the sheath portion is poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP). Various morphologies were obtained by changing both core and sheath solution concentrations. The core-sheath nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, to confirm core-sheath morphology, thermogravimetric analysis, and mechanical strength testing. The electrical conductivity of the surfaces of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) fibers and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-multi-walled nanotube fibers were both 10(-15) S/m. The highest bulk conductivity observed for the poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-multi-walled nanotube fibers was 1.2 x 10(-3) S/m.
静电纺丝是一种通用技术，可利用非常高的静电场制备纳米至微米尺寸范围的聚合物纤维。具有可调孔隙率和高比表面积的静电纺纳米纤维有多种应用，包括用于蛋白质分离的色谱支持物、生物医学装置、组织工程和药物递送基质，以及作为太阳能电池和超级电容器的关键组件。诸如纳米颗粒、纳米棒、纳米管或刚性导电聚合物等不可纺材料也可通过同轴静电纺丝纺成纤维。在本研究中，我们利用同轴静电纺丝制备了核壳纳米纤维。这些静电纺纤维的核部分由多壁碳纳米管组成，壳部分是聚乙烯吡咯烷酮（PVP）。通过改变核溶液和壳溶液的浓度获得了各种形态。通过扫描电子显微镜和透射电子显微镜对核壳纳米纤维进行表征，以确认核壳形态，进行热重分析和机械强度测试。聚乙烯吡咯烷酮纤维和聚乙烯吡咯烷酮 - 多壁纳米管纤维表面的电导率均为10^(-15) S/m。聚乙烯吡咯烷酮 - 多壁纳米管纤维观察到的最高体电导率为1.2×10^(-3) S/m。
