Properties of PS/TiO2 electrospun fibres using limonene as a solvent

Maryam, Khirandish ; Sedigheh, Borhani ; Shadpour, Mallakpour ; Mostafa, Youssefi

Abstract

Limonene, a natural solvent, has been used for producing polystyrene (PS) nanocomposite (NC) fibres. Nanocomposite fibres of PS are prepared by electrospinning of a homogeneous solution of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) and PS. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of PS nanocomposite fibres confirms the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles in the samples. FTIR spectra of PS nanocomposite fibres obviously show that there is no chemical linkage or interaction between PS and TiO2 nanoparticles in the resulting composites fibres. The morphology of PS electrospun fibres and PS/TiO2 nanocomposite fibres is investigated by SEM and FE-SEM. FE-SEM images of electrospun fibres reveal some aggregation of TiO2 nanoparticles. The results also show that increasing TiO2 nanoparticles reduces PS electrospun fibres diameter. Also, the UV protection of PS electrospun fibres is enhanced due to the increase in TiO2 nanoparticles load. Tensile strength and elasticity modulus first show an increase up to 4 wt% of TiO2 and then a decrease at higher loading. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) thermograms for PS electrospun fibres indicate that the introduction of TiO2 nanoparticles decreases the glass transition temperature (Tg).


Keyword(s)

Electrospinning; Limonene; Nanofibres; Nanoparticles; Polystyrene


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