ELECTROSPUN CONJUGATED POLYMER NANOFIBERS AS MINIATURIZED LIGHT SOURCES: CONTROL OF MORPHOLOGY, OPTICAL PROPERTIES AND ASSEMBLY

Light-emitting nanostructures made by conjugated polymers show interesting emission and electronic properties. In this work we report on novel approaches for the fabrication and control of light-emitting nanofibers by electrospinning. The shape, size and light-emitting properties of the fibers can be specifically tailored by acting on the composition of the solution used for the electrospinning process, an approach allowing for obtaining fibers ranging from micrometer-sized ribbons to almost cylindrical fibers with diameters down to few hundreds of nanometers. Moreover, following proper process optimization these fibers can also be precisely positioned in ordered arrays by near-field electrospinning, a method that exploits the stable region of the polymer jet. The possibility of precisely shaping the conjugated polymer fibers and of assembling the fiber in ordered arrays, combined with enhanced emission properties, opens interesting perspectives for developing novel emitting flexible nanomaterials suitable for light sourcing and optical sensing.