Synthesis and Substrate-Aided Alignment of Porphyrinated Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) Electrospun Nanofibers

Abstract

Aligned and unaligned vanadium (IV) oxide meso-tetraphenyl porphine (VMP)/polyethylene oxide (PEO) hybrid nanofibers have been successfully synthesized by electrospinning technique. The nanofibers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM and AFM analyses of the morphology showed that the nanofibers are cylindrical with diameters ranging from 400–700 nm. The AFM analysis also confirmed that the aligned nanofibers deposited on a small metallic spring are smoother than the unaligned ones deposited on FTO. FTIR analysis showed that the polar environment provided by the phenyl groups of VMP molecules modified the chemical configuration of PEO molecules, and XRD studies indicated that the VMP molecules were homogeneously distributed within the PEO matrix.

Keywords:

• electrospinning
• nanofibers
• PEO
• porphine

This work was financially supported by the following organizations: African Laser Centre (ALC), Nanoscience African Network (NANOAFNET), Abdul Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. The Centre for Energy Research and Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria is also appreciated for granting two of the authors leave of absence (AAA, JAA) during the preparation of this work. Southern and Eastern Africa Network of Analytical Chemists (SEANAC) is acknowledged for funding one of the authors (SC) for his research work at iThemba LABS.