Morphology, Structural Evolution, and Conductive Performance of Electrospun Cellulose Acetate/MXene/Nanocellulose Nanofibers Toward Flexible Electronic Applications

This study investigates electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers modified with Ti3C2Tₓ MXene and nanocellulose (NC). The effects of MXene loading and NC addition on solution rheology, fiber morphology, structural organization, electrical response, and mechanical properties were evaluated using rheology, SEM, XRD, FTIR spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, four-point probe conductivity measurements, and tensile testing. SEM analysis showed that NC reduced bead-like defects and improved MXene dispersion within the CA nanofiber matrix. XRD revealed an increase in crystallinity from 32.3% for neat CA to 47.1% for CA/2% MXene and 50.2% for the ternary CA/2% MXene/NC system, whereas excessive MXene loading partially disrupted long-range structural ordering. The electrical conductivity increased from 2.5 × 10−5 S cm−1 for CA/2% MXene to 1.3 × 10−4 S cm−1 for CA/5% MXene, while the ternary composite exhibited the highest value of 3.4 × 10−4 S cm−1. Mechanical testing showed that MXene improved stiffness and tensile strength, while NC primarily acted as a dispersion-stabilizing additive. These results demonstrate that NC-assisted MXene dispersion is an effective strategy for developing flexible conductive CA-based nanofibrous composites.