Effect of Dynamic Viscosity on Nanofiber Diameters and Electrical Conductivity of Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers Doped Nano-Cu Particles

Abstract

In this study, pure polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers in the diameter range of 200-500 nm and PAN/Cu composite nanofibers in 200-600 nm diameter range were produced at applied voltage of 15 kV. The distribution of fiber diameters, the dynamic viscosities of the solutions and the electrical conductivity (EC) of the produced fibers were examined as a function of copper nanoparticles content (1%, 3% and 5% by weight). The dynamic viscosity of the electrospinning solution was an important parameter on the nanofiber morphology as well as on the nanofiber diameter distribution. Taken together, the data analysis showed that the highest EC value was 38x10-2 S/cm, which was obtained from nanofibers produced by electrospinning solution containing %1 Cu nanoparticle having a dynamic viscosity value of 577.7 mPa.s. The addition of Cu nanoparticles increased the EC of pure PAN nanofibers by a factor of 2.37. In addition, further analysis of pure PAN nanofibers and %1 Cu/PAN nanofibers were performed by XRD, contact angle and TGA devices. Results showed that the TGA degradation curves of both pure PAN and Cu-based PAN nanofibers presented the same behavior. In DSC analysis, the glass transition temperature of pure PAN nanofibers was observed at 112 °C, while no glass transition temperature was observed for PAN nanofibers containing 1% Cu.