Properties of PS/TiO2 electrospun fibres using limonene as a solvent

Abstract

Limonene, a natural solvent, has been used for producing polystyrene (PS) nanocomposite (NC) fibres. Nanocomposite fibres of PS are prepared by electrospinning of a homogeneous solution of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles (NPs) and PS. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of PS nanocomposite fibres confirms the presence of TiO₂ nanoparticles in the samples. FTIR spectra of PS nanocomposite fibres obviously show that there is no chemical linkage or interaction between PS and TiO₂ nanoparticles in the resulting composites fibres. The morphology of PS electrospun fibres and PS/TiO₂ nanocomposite fibres is investigated by SEM and FE-SEM. FE-SEM images of electrospun fibres reveal some aggregation of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The results also show that increasing TiO₂ nanoparticles reduces PS electrospun fibres diameter. Also, the UV protection of PS electrospun fibres is enhanced due to the increase in TiO₂ nanoparticles load. Tensile strength and elasticity modulus first show an increase up to 4 wt% of TiO₂ and then a decrease at higher loading. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) thermograms for PS electrospun fibres indicate that the introduction of TiO₂ nanoparticles decreases the glass transition temperature (T_g).