Synergistic effect of polyaniline, nanosilver, and carbon nanotube mixtures on the structure and properties of polyacrylonitrile composite nanofiber

Olcay Eren, Nuray Ucar*, Aysen Onen, Nuray Kizildag, Ismail Karacan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, various amounts of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nanosilver (AgNPs), and polyaniline (PANI) were incorporated at the same pot into the structure of composite polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers, which were produced by electrospinning process in order to see synergistic effect of the additives on the final properties of the composite materials. Performance and characteristic properties of composite nanofibers were analyzed by tensile tester, electrical conductivity meter, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and antimicrobial activity test. Statistical analysis (analysis of variance) was performed to see whether the differences were statistically significant or not. It was seen that samples with AgNPs had higher breaking strength and electrical conductivity than the samples with CNTs. Generally, PANI improved the crystallinity of the composite material more than the nanoparticles (CNTs and AgNPs). Even though each of the nanoparticles was used in low concentrations, the composite materials (PAN-1CNT-1AgNO3-R and PAN-PANI-1AgNO3-R) gained antimicrobial properties due to the synergistic effect of additives. The results suggested that PAN composite nanofibers with 3 wt% PANI and 1 wt% AgNO3 generally presented better performance than the other samples in terms of electrical conductivity, antimicrobial activity, mechanical strength, crystallization, and thermal stability.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2073-2086
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Composite Materials
Volume50
Issue number15
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© SAGE Publications.

Keywords

  • Composite
  • electrospinning
  • functionalized carbon nanotube
  • nanofiber
  • polyacrylonitrile
  • polyaniline
  • silver nanoparticles
  • synergistic effect

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