THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRICAL VOLTAGE ON FORMATION OF SILICA NANO FIBER WITH ELECTROSPINNING METHOD

Abstract

Silica nanofibers have been successfully fabricated using electrospinning method. Silica solution was prepared with molar rasio of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS): ethanol: aquabides:hydrogen chloride (HCl) of 1 : 10 : 3 : 0.04. Polyvinyl alcohol ( PVA) of 10% was added to solution. The solutions were then mixed with a ratio of silica: PVA solution of 2: 3 ml. The functional group of silica/PVA was characterized by Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Morphology and elements analysis was tested by Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM - EDS). The functional groups of silica/PVA solution formed are –OH, C-H, CH 2 , C=O, Si-O, and Si-O-Si which indicate the occurrence of cross-linking between silica and PVA. The functional groups shown in the solution are still visible on the silica nanofibers in the presence of C, O, and Si elements in the EDS results of the nanosilica fibers. The surface morphology shows that the silica nanofibers are more continuous and the beads are relatively less with increasing electrospinning voltage. The average fiber diameter by taking into account the estimated standard deviation, shows a graph with a linear trend and increasing the applied electrospinning voltage. Silica nanofibers with diameter range (80-150) nm are obtained