Synthesis of copper acetate/polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber composite by electrospinning

Nanofiber composite plays important role in wide range application fields such as environmental, energy, sensor, chemical process, biotechnology and etc. In this research, we have successfully synthesized copper acetate/polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber composite by electrospinning process. Nanofiber composite was synthesized by following optimum conditions; applied voltage 20 kV, distance between nozzle to collector 12 cm, polymer solution flow rate 0,006 mL/h, polyvinyl alcohol concentration 20% w/v, copper acetate 0.5 % w/v, ethanol 30% w/v and water as solvent. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that copper acetate-polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber composite has smooth morphology. Nanofiber composite has average 385 nm in diameter. The diameter of nanofiber composite was larger than pristine polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber. Polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber has average 316 nm in diameter. Nanostructure of nanofiber composite was analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy and XRD. Vibration band peak at 3301 cm−1 and 3305 cm−1 are stretching of OH from polyvinyl alcohol and copper acetate-polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber composite, respectively. Vibration band peak of C-O stretching were identified at 1254 cm−1 and 1247 cm−1 for polyvinyl alcohol and copper acetate/polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber composite, respectively. Presence of copper acetate in nanofiber did not give significant change in structure of nanofiber. XRD analysis showed that strong intensity of diffraction peak at 2θ at 19 was attributed to crystalline region of polyvinyl alcohol. It is difficult to observed small content of copper acetate in nanofiber composite by XRD analysis. Small content of copper in nanofiber composite was detected by energy X-ray dispersive spectroscopy analysis (EDS).