The effect of various electrospinning parameter and sol-gel concentration on morphology of silica and titania nanofibers

Abstract

Nano scale fibers of SiO2 and TiO2 with various compositions of viscosity and parameter have been prepared by electrospinning the precursor of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and titanium (IV) isopropoxide (TiP). Different concentrations of polymer precursor polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and applied voltages were studied. Distance tip to collector of 15 cm and flow rate of 0.003 mL/h were fixed for entire electrospinning process. The morphology of nanofibers was evaluated versus different solution concentrations as well as different applied voltages. Concentration focused in this study included 5 %wt, 10 %wt and 15 %wt of PVP along with 15 kV – 17.5 kV of voltages applied. The as-spun nanofibers were characterized by SEM. Results showed that the average fiber diameter decreases with decreasing of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solution concentration.