Electrically Conductive Ultrafine Fibers of PVA-PEDOT/PSS and PVA-AgNPs by Means of Electrospinning

This research project produced two fabricated ultrafine conductive polymeric fibers. The first fiber was fabricated from a polymer and conductive polymer solution, and the second was fabricated from a polymer and metal nanoparticle/ nanocomposite. The resulting fibers were characterized and analyzed. For all fiber samples, the ultrafine polymeric fibers were fabricated using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The conductive polymer used in the first fiber sample was poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/ polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT/PSS). The conductive nanoparticles used in the second fiber sample were silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The ultrafine conductive polymer fibers and the ultrafine conductive nanoparticle fibers were fabricated using an electrospining process. During the fabrication process of each fiber sample, different concentrations of either PEDOT/PSS, for fiber sample one, or AgNPs, for fiber sample two, were combined in PVA solution. Using optimal conditions, ultrafine fibers were fabricated at intervals of 5 min for the creation of random fibers, and intervals of 20 min for the creation of aligned fiber mats. The resulting fibers ranged from 0.1 μm to 0.2 μm in diameter. After characterization and analysis of the conductive ultrafine polymeric fibers, using either the PVA:PEDOT/PSS compound or the PVA:AgNPs compound, both samples produced greater conductive capacities with greater concentrations of solution. For the random fiber samples, the conductive capacity was sporadic. However, the ultrafine fiber mats (PVA:AgNPs) supported a capacity from 3.64 S/cm to 10.64 S/cm, and the PVA:PEDOT/PSS ultrafine fiber mats supported a capacity from 4.49 S/cm to 7.08 S/cm.