Investigation of Morphology, Crystallization and Conductivity of Polyaniline based Electrospun Fibers

Coaxial electrospinning is an advanced form of electrospinning technique that offers a promising advantage to combine multiple polymers in a single nonwoven form. However, the choice of polymers and the solvents for core and sheath layers needs meticulous consideration in the fabrication of the core and sheath layer in co-axial electrospinning. Herein, a successful coaxial electrospinning of four polymers with PVA/PANi system in the shell and TPU/PLA system in the core of polymer mesh is reported. Morphological analysis via scanning electron microscopy revealed the fine structure of the coaxial fibers with no beads. Additionally, differential scanning calorimetry results reveal that the melting temperature (Tm) curves shifted to a lower temperature, i-e 60 OC from 117 OC as the weight percent of PANi increased from 0.1 to 0.5 grams. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic analysis revealed the increased conductivity of the electrospun fibers resulting from the increasing weight percent of PANi. Thus, conductivity and stretchability were achieved without sacrificing the melting temperature Tm of TPU/PLA. This nonwoven polymer membrane can be used as multi-functional devices working as a free-standing electrode for smart bio medical wearable devices, biosensors and triboelectric nanogenerators.