The preparation and properties of the flexible titanium oxide/carbon nanofibers film

Abstract

The titanium oxide (TiO x (x = 1 ~ 2))/carbon (C) nanofibers (NFs) films were prepared by electrospinning, followed by pre-oxidation and carbonization, and the effects of pre-oxidation temperature on the TiO x /C NFs films were investigated. The results showed that pre-oxidation temperature not only affected the composition of TiO x (TiO2 or TiO2/TiO mixture) in CNFs, but also had great influence on forming aromatic ring structure of graphite layer. As a result, the mechanical properties and conductivity of the TiO x /C NFs film were deeply influenced by pre-oxidation temperature. With the pre-oxidation temperature increasing, the tensile strength, elongation at break, and bending elastic modulus of TiO x /C NFs films improved, reached the largest values, and then decreased. When pre-oxidation temperature was 240 °C, the tensile strength, elongation at break and bending elastic modulus had the largest values of 7.10 MPa, 3.56%, and 9.0 cN/cm2, respectively. All the TiO x /C NFs films exhibited well flexibility. Moreover, with the pre-oxidation temperature no more than 260 °C, the average square resistances of TiO x /C NFs films were about 10 Ω/sq. With the temperature being over 280 °C, the average square resistances of TiO x /C NFs films greatly increased and reached about 22 Ω/sq. These flexible films can be applied in efficient catalyst flexible scaffolds and flexible electronic devices.