Microgel electrospinning: A novel tool for the fabrication of nanocomposite fibers

We demonstrate for the first time herein that electrospinning of soluble crosslinked polymer particles (microgels) is feasible and that it can be used to obtain micron-sized fibers from these macromolecules. Most notably, the electrospinning approach is found to be successful also in the case of microgels bearing metal nanoclusters, and allows to prepare composite fibers containing a homogeneous dispersion of metal nanoparticles without alterations in the nanoparticle size and size distribution. Given the broad applicability of microgels as exotemplates and stabilisers for inorganic nanoparticles, the proposed preparation method stands out as a novel, general approach for the synthesis of potentially useful composite fibers containing inorganic nanoparticles.