Enhancing the physical properties of polystyrene nanofibers by adding multiwall carbon nanotubes and natural dye

Polymeric nanocomposites of polystyrene nanofibers and multiwall carbon nanotubes and natural pigment were synthesized using electrospinning technique the polystyrene concentration was 12 wt.% and multiwall carbon nanotube was added by (0, 100, 140, 200 ppm), and natural pigment added by two drops (0.063 g) to the prepared solutions and many tests were carried out to the prepared solutions and the final samples. The solution tests included viscosity test by using cone-plate viscometer and surface tension test using du-nouy ring method. The nano textiles tests included the Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FTIR) test, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) test, contact angle test, and ultraviolet test to extract the energy bandgap using (tauc plot) method. The tests results showed that the viscosity increased by increasing the multiwall carbon nanotube and natural pigment and surface tension slightly increased at a high ratio of 200 ppm of multiwall carbon nanotube and natural pigment and physical type of reaction between the components were confirmed through FTIR, and the addition of multiwall carbon nanotube and natural pigment makes the fibers smoother and fewer beads formation and increase the multiwall carbon nanotube addition made the samples more hydrophobic and the charts of tauc plot show that increasing the MWCNT with natural pigment addition will increase the electrical sensitivity of the prepared samples in which the energy band gap dropped from 1.18 ev to 0.2 ev for the sample of Polystyrene/200 ppm MWCNT/natural pigment this is regarded as an indication of using it as a typical electrical sensor.

Automated summary

In this study, polymeric nanocomposites of polystyrene nanofibers, multiwall carbon nanotubes, and natural pigment were synthesized using the electrospinning technique. The results showed that the addition of multiwall carbon nanotubes and natural pigment increased the viscosity and surface tension of the solutions. The physical interaction between the components was confirmed through various tests. The addition of multiwall carbon nanotubes and natural pigment resulted in smoother fibers with fewer bead formations. An increase in the amount of multiwall carbon nanotubes made the samples more hydrophobic. Additionally, the Tauc plot showed that the electrical sensitivity of the prepared samples increased with the addition of multiwall carbon nanotubes and natural pigment.