Morphological Characteristics of Electrospun Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Nanofibers Containing Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

The electrospinning process was investigated to embed multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in the electrospun nanofibers of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) for anisotropic alignment and effective dispersion of carbon nanotubes in the transparent polymer substrate. The morphology of MWNT-incorporated electrospun nanofibers was substantially influenced by the types of solvent and the content of carbon nanotubes exhibiting various forms of beads, undulated fibers, or uniform fibers. In the fibrous forms of electrospun PMMA, the MWNTs were mostly attached on the surface of polymer by physical interlocking. On the other hand, when the bead-shaped PMMA was produced by the electrospinning process, most of the MWNTs were embedded in the PMMA matrix without being exposed on the polymer surfaces. Using the O₂ plasma treatment for cutting-off the polymer-rich surface layer of the beads, the embedded MWNTs were exposed out of the beads and subsequently an urchin-shaped structure was obtained. The protruded MWNTs of the urchin-shaped beads could stabilize the polymer beads by the steric stabilization in the solution state and provide facile electronic pathway and percolation in the condensed solid state.

Keywords:

• alignment
• carbon nanotube
• dispersion
• electrospinning
• plasma treatment
• radius of gyration

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF–2004–005–D00063). We also appreciate technical and instrumental support from Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) through research project to Sungkyunkwan Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT).