Nanofibers for the Detection of VOCs

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are significant environmental pollutants and have harmful effects on the human health. In order to detect VOCs, nanofibrous materials received considerable attention due to their unique chemical/physical properties and their high surface area/volume ratio. Electrospun fibers with polyelectrolyte components, conducting polymer composites, and semiconductors were successfully applied as gas sensing interfaces. Increasing the thermal and electrical conductivity of typical insulating polymers, such as nylon-6,6 will allow the development of new and improved ultrasensitive sensors for detection of VOCs. In this study, we report our preliminary results for the production of electrospun Nylon-6,6 nanofibrous matrices after combination with a conductive component for a possible VOC sensor platform. Three dimensional nonwoven nanofibers with various compositions (5,10,15 and 20 wt%) were fabricated by the electrospinning method from Nylon-6,6 polymer solutions dissolved in a 4:1 weight ratio formic acid/acetic acid solution. Chemical and morphological structure of the electrospun matrices were studied by FT-IR and SEM, respectively. The electrospun Nylon-6,6 membranes demonstrated nanofibrous structures with fiber sizes ranging between 32 and 103 nm. By varying the polymer concentration and the conductivity of the polymer solution, changes of the size and the morphology of the final structures are observed.