Solvent effect on electrospinning of nanotubes: The case of magnesium ferrite

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we have demonstrated that the solvent plays a critical role in the nanotubes formation process which can be controlled by the ambient temperature. It is believed that the ambient temperature and the rate of evaporation of the solvent during the electrospinning process are the major factors controlling the formation of different electrospun nanofibre morphologies. By their very nature, electrospun different nanofibre morphologies depend on the competition between the phase separation dynamics and the evaporation rate of solvent controlled by the phase diagram of the polymer solution. In our experiments, MgFe 2 O 4 nanotubes are prepared by using different solvent mixtures at a specific ambient temperature (ethanol at room temperature and deionized water homogeneous temperature field of 45 °C) by single capillary electrospinning process, and compared with MgFe 2 O 4 nanofibers obtained using deionized water at room temperature. A possible formation mechanism, morphology template effect combined with phase separation theory, is proposed to interpret the formation process of the MgFe 2 O 4 nanotubes. Detailed morphology, structural characterizations show that individual MgFe 2 O 4 nanotubes are made of MgFe 2 O 4 nanocrystals stacking along the nanotubes with no preferred growth directions and individual nanocrystals are single crystal with a cubic spinel structure. In addition, the magnetic properties of MgFe 2 O 4 nanotubes calcined at different temperature will be reported and discussed.