Short electrospun composite nanofibers: Effects of nanoparticle concentration and surface charge on fiber length

• Short composite nanofiber can be fabricated using a solution with 13 wt. % polymer.
• Concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles could be added up to 50 wt. %.
• Nanoparticle concentration and surface charge affects the composite fiber length.
• Composite nanofibers became longer when negatively charged nanoparticles were used.

Short composite nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning polymer/TiO2 nanoparticle solutions of 13 wt. % cellulose acetate as a polymer under a voltage of 5.5 kV and at a flow rate of 0.1 μL/min, and the nanoparticles could be added in concentrations as high as 50 wt. %. The length of the short composite nanofibers was significantly decreased from 112 to 70 μm by the addition of at least a 5 wt. % concentration of nanoparticles, and it gradually continued to decrease as the nanoparticle concentration was increased. The length of the short composite nanofibers with a low concentration of nanoparticles was affected by the surface charge of the nanoparticles, and negatively charged nanoparticles readily dispersed to the negatively charged polymers in solution, which resulted in an elongation of the fabricated short composite nanofibers.

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