Three-point bending of electrospun TiO2 nanofibers

TiO2 (anatase) and TiO2/PVP nanocomposite nanofibers with average diameters of 53 and 109 nm, respectively, were synthesized via sol-gel chemistry in combination with an electrospinning process. This produced continuous nanofibers that were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TiO2 nanofibers were obtained through thermal oxidation of TiO2/PVP in air and the weight loss was determined by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Mechanical properties were studied with a nanoscale three-point bending test. Elastic properties of single nanofibers are reported as measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) three-point bending on a mesoporous membrane as support. The mean of elastic moduli for TiO2 and TiO2/PVP nanofibers were found to be 75.6 and 0.9 GPa, respectively.