Revealing Electrical and Mechanical Performances of Highly Oriented Electrospun Conductive Nanofibers of Biopolymers with Tunable Diameter

The present study outlines a reliable approach to determining the electrical conductivity and elasticity of highly oriented electrospun conductive nanofibers of biopolymers. The highly oriented conductive fibers are fabricated by blending a high molar mass polyethylene oxide (PEO), polycaprolactone (PCL), and polylactic acid (PLA) with polyaniline (PANi) filler. The filler-matrix interaction and molar mass (M) of host polymer are among governing factors for variable fiber diameter. The conductivity as a function of filler fraction (phi) is shown and described using a McLachlan equation to reveal the electrical percolation thresholds (phi(c)) of the nanofibers. The molar mass of biopolymer, storage time, and annealing temperature are significant factors for phi(c). The Young's modulus (E) of conductive fibers is dependent on filler fraction, molar mass, and post-annealing process. The combination of high orientation, tunable diameter, tunable conductivity, tunable elasticity, and biodegradability makes the presented nanofibers superior to the fibers described in previous literature and highly desirable for various biomedical and technical applications.

Automated summary

This study presents a reliable approach to determine the electrical conductivity and elasticity of highly oriented electrospun conductive nanofibers of biopolymers. The filler-matrix interaction and molar mass of host polymer are found to be crucial factors affecting the fiber diameter and electrical percolation thresholds of the nanofibers. Additionally, factors such as molar mass of biopolymer, storage time, and annealing temperature play significant roles in controlling the conductivity of the fibers.