Etude et développement de non-tissés fait en nanofibres composites obtenues par électrofilage

L’électrofilage est actuellement la méthode la plus utilisée pour la production de nanofibres grâce à sa simplicité, sa reproductibilité et la possibilité d’être industrialisée. Grâce à leurs propriétés particulières telles qu’un grand rapport surface-volume, une porosité inter-fibre élevée et une grande capacité d’adsorption, les nanofibres électrofilées sont de bons candidats pour de nombreuses applications telles que la filtration, les masques respiratoires, les matériaux composites, etc. Cependant, certaines applications particulières, telles que les capteurs, les systèmes d'administration contrôlée de médicaments ou les super condensateurs, exigent que les nanofibres doivent présenter des propriétés complémentaires telles que la conductivité électrique, la porosité de surface de nanofibres, l’hydrophobicité, ou d’autres propriétés particulières. Certains nanomatériaux comme les nanotubes de carbone, la silice mésoporeuse ordonnée, les argiles, ont des propriétés particulières comme la conductivité électriques élevée des nanotubes de carbone, la porosité des matériaux de silice mésoporeuse ordonnée ou de l’argile. Ces propriétés des nanomatériaux peuvent être les fonctions complémentaires cherchées. Dans notre étude, des non-tissés composés de nanofibres de polyacrylonitrile chargées par nanotubes de carbone à multi-parois (MWNT), de la montmorillonite sodique (MMT-Na) ou de la silice mésoporeuse ordonnée (de type SBA-15), sont produits par électrofilage. Les résultats montrent que l’insertion de MWNT rend le non-tissé conducteur en augmentant la conductivité électrique volumique par six ordres de grandeur (de ~ 2×10-12 à ~ 3×10-6 S/m) avec un très faible seuil de percolation de 0.5 % massique. Lorsque le non-tissé est soumis à une compression, la conductivité électrique volumique augmente en augmentant la pression (jusqu’à ~ 2 kPa). Ces non-tissés conducteurs sont très intéressants pour le développement des capteurs à faible amplitude. Les résultats montrent aussi que l’accessibilité des pores des particules inorganiques (c’est-à-dire, les mésopores de SBA-15 et l’espace interfoliaire de MMT-Na) insérées dans la structure nano fibreuse est encore possible. Il a été trouvé que plus de 50% des mésopores de SBA-15 insérées sont encore accessibles quelles que soit les conditions de l’électrofilage et la fraction massique de SBA-15. En outre, l’insertion de ces particules inorganiques apporte plus de stabilité thermique aux nanofibres composites.Electrospinning is the most common method for the production of nanofibres due to its simplicity, repeatability, and the ability to be scaled up. Owing to their advanced properties like the high surface-to-volume ratio, high interfibrous porosity, high adsorption capacity, etc. electrospun nanofibers are good candidates for many applications such as filtration, respiratory masks, composite materials and others. However, some specific applications including sensors, controlled drug delivery systems, supercapacitors, etc. still require complimentary functions that do not exist in pristine nanofibers in their basic structure like the electrical conductivity, surface porosity of the nanofibers, hydrophobicity, and others.Nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes, ordered mesoporous silica, layered silicate, etc. are characterized by particular properties like the high electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes, the porosity of ordered mesoporous silica or layered silicate. These particular properties of nanomaterials can fulfill of the targeted functions.In our study, nonwovens made from nanofibers of polyacrylonitrile incorporated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT), layered silicate type Na-montmorillonite (Na-MMT) or ordered mesoporous silica type SBA-15 are successfully produced by electrospinning.Results reveal that the incorporation of MWNT altered the electrical state of the nonwoven from insolent to conductor where the volume electrical conductivity increased by six order of magnitude (from ~ 2×10-12 to ~ 3×10-6 S/m) with a very low percolation threshold of about 0.5 wt%. The application of mechanical pressure to the conductive nonwoven causes an increase in the volume electrical conductivity with the increase of the applied pressure (up to ~ 2 kPa). Such conductive nonwoven is very interesting for the development of sensor with low amplitude.Results also show that accessibility of the pores of the inorganic particles (i.e. mesopores of SBA-15 and interlayer space of Na-MMT) incorporated into the nanofibers is still possible. It is found that at least 50% of SBA-15 mesopores are still accessible whatever is the electrospinning conditions and SBA-15 mass fraction. In addition, the incorporation of the studied inorganic particles yields higher thermal stability for the composite nanofibers

Measuring of Electrical Properties of MWNT-Reinforced PAN Nanocomposites

Nano-web sheets of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNT) were prepared by electrospinning process. Multi wall nanotubes (MWNT) were dispersed mechanically by high shear mixing using a homogenizer device. It has been found that the spinning solution presented an electrical percolation threshold less than 0.5 wt.% of MWNT. Electrical volume and surface conductivity of the obtained nano-webs was studied by measuring the electrical volume resistance and surface resistance thanks to home-made plate electrodes. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been used to characterize the nano-web sheets produced. The average filament diameters range from 320 to 750 nm depending on the concentration of CNT and of PAN. From an electrical point of view, it has been observed that the electrical volume conductivity increases by about six orders of magnitude from 2×10−12 S/m for pristine PAN to 4×10−6 S/m for PAN charged by MWNT. Increasing the pressure on the specimen induces an exponential decrease of the volume resistivity while surface resistivity shows no significant changes, neither between pristine PAN and reinforced nano-webs, nor among reinforced nano-web in relation to MWNT concentration (in the limit of the study). This observed behavior is very interesting in the context of sensor developments

Electrospinning Nonwovens of Polyacrylonitrile / synthetic Na-Montmorillonite Composite Nanofibers

International audienceNonwovens of polymer/clay composite nanofibers (namely, Polyacrylonitrile/Na-montmorillonite, PAN/Na-MMT) are produced by electrospinning a solution of PAN in dimethylformamide containing synthetic Na-MMT. The influence of both Na-MMT amount and applied voltage on the properties of electrospun composite nonwovens was studied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTA), were used to evaluate the morphology, structure and thermal properties of composite nanofibers. SEM observations revealed that increasing the amount of Na-MMT in the solution or the applied voltage increases the average diameter of electrospun composite nanofibers. The prepared composite showed a higher thermal stability that the pristine PAN nanofibers. It was proven that the ion exchange properties of Na-MMT were maintained in the obtained composite