Effect of carbon nanotubes dispersion on morphology, internal structure and thermal stability of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol)/carbon nanotubes nanofibers

The current work reports the effect of multi walled carbon nanotubes and single walled carbon nanotubes dispersion on morphological, structural and thermal degradation of electrospun poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) (PVA/CNTs–SDS) composites nanofibers. (PVA/CNTs–SDS) nanocomposites fibers were elaborated using the traditional electrospinning process to disperse and align CNTs into the fibers, especially for low CNTs loading fraction: 0.3 and 0.7 wt%. The morphology of the electrospun fibers was studied using the scanning electronic microscopy. The average diameter of the fibers changes significantly after the incorporation of the CNTs in the PVA. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy elucidated the effect of CNTs on the crystallization of the PVA which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the thermal stability of the composite fibers depends on the loading fraction and on the type of carbon nanotubes.