Electrospun polyetherimide nanofibers with reduced graphene oxide-zeolitic imidazolate framework for conductivity improvement

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) combined with zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF), i.e., rGO-ZIF incorporated with polyetherimide (PEI) electrospun nanofiber, was produced using the electrospinning technique. The produced nanofibers had high porosity with enhanced conductivity. The ionic conductivity, porosity, morphology, and diameter of rGO-ZIF nanofiber were optimized by manipulating the weight percentage of rGO-ZIF and PEI in the electrospinning solution. Morphology, porosity, and contact angle analyses revealed that the 30 wt% PEI with 0.3 wt% of rGO-ZIF can produce nanofibers without beads with 136.3 ± 35 nm mean diameter and porosity of around 92.3%. Furthermore, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis revealed that with the addition of 0.3 wt% of rGO-ZIF, charge transfer resistance decreased, and the ionic conductivity of PEI nanofibers increased to 5.23 × 10–4 S/cm, nearly 200 times higher than the ionic conductivity of pure PEI nanofibers. The excellent ionic conductivity, low charge transfer resistance, and high porosity of electrospun rGO-ZIF/PEI-based composite nanofibers make them suitable for electrochemical sensing electrode applications.