Among numerous methods for obtaining polymer nanofibers, electrospinning technique distinguishes itself due to the more growing interest induced by its proved utility. Production of doped polymeric nanofibers was intensively studied lately because of the increased interest for the obtaining of functional nanofibers.
Electrospinning is a facile method for producing polymer nanofibers with diameters from nanometrical to micrometrical sizes that are cheap, flexible, scalable, functional and biocompatible. Besides the multiple applications in medicine, electrospun polymeric nanofibers permit manipulation of light at nanometric dimensions when doped with organic dyes or different nanoparticles. The technique uses an electrical field to draw fine nanofibers from solutions and does not require complicated devices or high temperatures. Different morphologies of the nanofibers are obtained for the same polymeric host when different process parameters are used. Consequently, optical properties of the nanofibers can be tuned (e.g. changing the emission peak’s wavelength) by varying the electrospinning parameters.
We focus on obtaining doped polymer nanofibers with enhanced optical properties using the electrospinning technique. The aim of the paper is to produce dye-doped polymer nanofibers’ mats incorporating uniformly dispersed dyes. Transmission and fluorescence of the fibers will be evaluated by spectroscopy methods. The morphological properties of the dye-doped polymer fibers will be evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We will tailor the luminescent properties by doping the polymer (polyvinylpyrrolidone or polymethylmetacrilate) with different dyes (coumarins, rhodamines and sulforhodamines). The luminescent properties of electrospun polymeric nanofibers that are doped with different dyes can be changed by using different electrospinning parameters (electric voltage, distance between electrodes, flow rate of the solution, etc.). Furthermore, we can evaluated the dye concentration’s influence on the emissive properties of dye-doped polymer nanofibers.
The advantages offered by the electrospinning technique when producing polymeric fibers are given by the simplicity of the method, the tuneability of the morphology allowed by the possibility of controlling all the process parameters (temperature, viscosity of polymeric solution, applied voltage, distance between electrodes, etc.), and by the absence of harsh and supplementary chemicals.
Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the financial support received through IFA CEA Project No. C5-08/2016.
