ZnO Hollow Nanofibers: Fabrication from Facile Single Capillary Electrospinning and Applications in Gas Sensors

Abstract

In this work, ZnO hollow nanofibers with diameters of 120-150 nm were successfully fabricated by electrospinning the precursor solution consisting of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and zinc acetate composite through a facile single capillary, followed by thermal decomposition for removal of the above polymers from the precursor fibers. The as-prepared nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), resonant Raman spectra, thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra, respectively. The results indicated that, during the electrospinning process, there occurred phase separation between the electrospun composite materials, while the obtained precursor nanofibers of PAN, PVP, and zinc acetate composite might possess a core-shell structure (PAN as the core and PVP/zinc acetate composite as the shell). Furthermore, the composite nanofibers with core/shell structure could play a structural directing template role for preparing ZnO hollow nanofibers during the calcination process. The ZnO hollow nanofibers exhibited excellent sensing properties against ethanol due to their special one-dimensional nanostructural properties.

Polymer–Inorganic Core–Shell Nanofibers by Electrospinning and Atomic Layer Deposition: Flexible Nylon–ZnO Core–Shell Nanofiber Mats and Their Photocatalytic Activity

“…As seen in Figure 2 (a1−3), nylon 6,6 nanofibers have smooth and uniform surface, however, the surface of the core− shell nylon 6,6-ZnO nanofibers was increased roughness (Figure 2 (b1−3)) due to the grainy structure of the outer ZnO layer. 56 Since the deposited film is polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure, ALD growth starts with the nucleation of ZnO islands. With the increasing number of ALD cycles, these islands coalesce to form a continuous film.…”

Facile fabrication of In2O3/Bi2WO6 heterostructured microbelts with enhanced photocatalytic activity

“…2a, b are attributed to the stretching vibration of -CH 3 and -CH 2 of PVP. A large absorption bands at 1,661, 1,466, and 1,285 cm -1 are assigned to the characteristic stretching vibrations of C=O, C=C, and C-N of PVP, respectively [29]. The peaks located at 845, 570, 440 cm -1 is supposedly the Bi-O band which appeared when calcined at 600°C in both Fig.…”

“…The last weight loss of ca. 13 %, in the range of 480-550°C, is attributed to the continuous decomposition of nitrate and release of the oxidation of carbon and carbon monoxide from the thorough degradation of the main polymer chain of PVP [29]. Figure 2 shows the FT-IR spectra of the samples in the range of 400-4,000 cm -1 , respectively.…”

Zinc oxide's hierarchical nanostructure and its photocatalytic properties

“…Typically, a colloidal solution that was composed of zinc acetate dehydrate, poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA) and zinc nanoparticles Page 6 of 42 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 5 (ZnNPs) was electrospun; then, calcination of the obtained electrospun mats resulted in ZnO nanofibers with a rough surface. It is noteworthy to mention that using a (ZnNPs) free solution produced a smooth surface on the ZnO nanofibers [23]. Nanobranches from ZnO have been successfully outgrown from the prepared nanofibers by a hydrothermal treatment process in the presence of zinc nitrate and bis-hexamethylene triamine.…”