Electrospun composite nanofibers of poly (vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene)/polyaniline‐polystyrene sulfonic acid

Nanofibers of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene)/polyaniline‐polystyrene sulfonic acid (PVDF‐TrFE/PANi‐PSSA) were fabricated in air at room temperature using electrospinning, with the thinnest fiber having a diameter of ～ 6 nm. This is a cheap, fast, and reliable process for generating PVDF‐TrFE/PANi‐PSSA composite nanofibers. The presence of conducting PANi‐PSSA increased the charge density of the solution and assisted in the fabrication of PVDF‐TrFE nanofibers at low polymer concentrations in dimethylformamide without the beading effect. Ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy showed that PANi‐PSSA was well incorporated into the PVDF‐TrFE solution with no polymer segregation or degradation. A scanning electron microscope was used for morphological characterization of the fibers and a profilometer used to determine the fiber diameter. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011