Synthesis and Characterization of Copolymer Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Graphene Nanofiber

Abstract

The copolymer poly(vinylidenefluoride)/graphene (cPVDF/graphene) nanofibers were fabricated using the electrospinning method. The concentration of cPVDF was fixed at 24% (wt.%), graphene 0.01-0.1% (wt.%) in N, N-dimethylacetamide (N, N-DMAC). Characterization was conducted to analyse the effect of graphene concentration and electrospinning parameter of cPVDF/graphene using SEM-EDS, ATR-FTIR, TG-DSC, and XRD. Electrospinning parameters (applied voltage, the distance between nozzle and collector, flow rate) effected nanofiber diameter, beads formation, β-crystal phase formation in the flow rate variation, the nanofiber produced is at the size of the nanometer and at optimum conditions, almost no beads are found, as well as homogeneous. SEM images showed that the presence of graphene and applied electrospinning parameter affected morphology and an average diameter of nanofibers. FTIR and XRD pattern indicated that β-crystal phase of cPVDF was dominant than α-phase, which was followed by increasing the crystallinity when graphene added. Graphene also influenced the thermal behaviour of composite nanofibers which was supported by TG-DTG and DSC thermograms. Hydrophobicity of cPVDF nanofibers increased with more graphene content. These composite nanofibers have potential application to solve environmental problems.