Characterization of Poly(butylene Terephthalate) Electrspun Nanofibres Containing Titanium Oxide.

Titanium oxide/poly(butylene terephthalate) (TiO2/PBT) composite nanofibres were prepared by electrospinning technique. The electrospun PBT and TiO2/PBT nanofibres were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Instron, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The diameter of PBT and the composite nanofibres were in the range of 500-100±50 nm. The beads formation was observed when the amount of PBT was less than 10 wt % in the polymeric solution. The TiO2 (with size below 50 nm) nanoparticles were dispersed in the polymeric solution via sonication. The dispersion and embediment of TiO2 nanoparticles within the nanofibres were confirmed by TEM. The XRD result indicated that TiO2 nanoparticles were well loaded into PBT electrospun nanofibres mat and it was also observed that the composite nanofibres contain both forms (anatase and rutile) of TiO2. The mechanical properties such as specific tensile strengths and modulus of the PBT/TiO2 composite nanofibres were higher than those of pure PBT electrospun nanofibers. However, the elongationat- break value of composite nanofibres was lower than that of the pure PBT nanofibres, which implies that the incorporation of TiO2 nanoparticles made nanofibres stronger but less flexible.