Hybrid organic and inorganic electrospun nanofibers

The main goal of the work was the optimization of the procedure for the production of:-Active multifunctional nanocomposites based on polymer nanofibers with ZnO nanoroads growth by chemical Bath Deposition on the surface of undoped and Zn(Ac)2 doped polyethersulfone (PES) electrospun fibres; -Silver nanoparticles as nanofiller to obtain electrospun membrane with water purification and antifouling properties, -MWCNTs as nanofiller to give electrospun nanofiber with mechanical reinforced properties. The hybrid structures were characterized by SEM, EDX analysis and UV-vis spectroscopy. Zn(Ac)2 doped PES fibrous mats were obtained by roll-to-roll electrospinning of polymer solutions doped with zinc acetate. The presence of Zn acetate contributes to thermally stabilize the polymeric composite, due to formation of ZnO during thermal treatments. Brush-like ZnO nanorods were grown on the obtained sub-micrometer PES fibers by Chemical Bath Deposition to obtain highly nanostructured surfaces with a high level of crystallinity. These hierarchical mats are water resistant and photocatalytic actives.It was optimized the pre-spinning solution for the production of PES /Ag nanoparticles fibers using the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) phenomenon of the silver nanoparticles, finding the concentration of PVP necessary for stabilize the silver ions reduction with shortest time.SEM and EDX characterizations confirmed the presence of silver nanoparticles into PES fibers. The membranes obtained are suitable for the production of multifunctional composites based on epoxy resin by "dissolution in situ" process. Fibers with MWCNT as nanofiller showed bead-on string morphology (increasing the percentage of MWCNTs, the bead dimensions also increase), whereas fibers without MWCNTs are bead-free.