Fabrication of Polycrystalline ZnO Nanotubes from the Electrospinning of Zn²⁺/Poly(acrylic acid)

Abstract

Polycrystalline zinc-oxide nanotubes were fabricated via the polymer-assisted electrospinning technique. Chemically dissolved zinc in a poly(acrylic acid) aqueous solution was formulated to produce electrospun Zn 2þ /polyanion nanofibers. Polyanions were simultaneously employed as zinc ion stabilizers and electrospinning carriers. A calcination process initiated the breakdown of Zn 2þ /vinyl-COO -species at about 200°C prior to the main decomposition of the polymer, which occurred at a higher temperature. With increasing calcination temperatures, the growth of ZnO nanograins formed the outer layers of fibers with hollow domains. The ZnO grain sizes were mainly determined by the calcination temperatures. Furthermore, nanotube diameters and tube thicknesses were successfully manipulated by the electrospinning formula and process. The fabrication of electrospun zinc/poly(acrylic acid) nanofibers and the formation of hollow nanotubes, as a function of calcination temperature, were investigated and discussed.

Ceramic nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning and their applications in catalysis, environmental science, and energy technology

“…Poly(vinyl pyrolidone) (PVP) is one of the most popular polymers employed as a matrix due to its high solubility in ethanol or water and its good compatibility with many metal alkoxides and salts, including titanium isopropoxide and zirconium acetylacetonate. In addition, other polymers, such as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA),8 poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc),11 polyacrylonitrile (PAN),25 poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA),19 and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA),26 have also been widely used.…”

Porous Ni nanofibers with enhanced catalytic effect on the hydrogen storage performance of MgH2

“…The growth of individual Ni nanograins required the consumption of more material nearby, which simultaneously triggered the formation of nanograin spacing and created greater spacings among the nanograins. 31 As a result, the continuous fibrous structure of the precursor was replaced by a more loosely connected nanocrystalline morphology, which is favored for the subsequent homogeneous dispersion of Ni NPs on the MgH 2 surface during the ball milling. The crystal phase and structural information on the as-synthesized NiO NFs before and after reduction were obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements.…”

Photoluminescence and Raman Spectroscopy of Polycrystalline ZnO Nanofibers Deposited by Electrospinning

“…The green emission is also at times related to trace amounts of carbon condensation in the nanowires. 8 Again, annealing the fiber mat in O-rich environment also rules out this possibility. The fibers are stoichiometric; however, there could be the formation of interstitial defects leading to O-vacancies and Zn-vacancies at the lattice site or antisite-related defects.…”

“…Moreover, it is difficult to grow large quantities of nanowires using traditional methods due to equipment and substrate size limitations in contrast to electrospinning. 8 In this work we have investigated the optical properties of ZnO nanowires deposited by electrospinning based on photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy results.…”