Electrospinning and Optical Properties of Polyacrylonitrile/Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposite Fibers

Abstract

In situ polymerization was used in this work to prepare polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanocomposite at various ratios (5, 10, 15, and 20 weight percent of TiO2). PAN/TiO2 nanofibers were created using the electrospinning process from a homogenized solution. X-ray diffraction data demonstrated that a structural change to an amorphous state had taken place. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the morphology of the high-aligned fibers with PAN diameters of roughly 33 nm and 51 nm of PAN/(10wt%)TiO2 was examined. A spectrophotometer was used to examine the optical characteristics of the nanofiber films at wavelengths between 200 and 900 nm. The energy gap (Eg) of the nanofiber films was computed, and it decreased as the weight ratio of the TiO2 nanoparticle increased. With 5, 10, and 15% weight percentage of TiO2, respectively, the energy gap (Eg) of PAN nanofibers changes from 3.92 eV to 3.72, 3.39, 3.19 eV. Several other parameters have also been calculated, including the excitation coefficient (k), refractive index (n), Urbach tail (Et), dielectric constant (e₁), dielectric loss (e₂), and volume and surface energy loss functions (VELF) and (SELF).