Electrical conductivity of a single electrospun fiber of poly(methyl methacrylate) and multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposite

Abstract

Electrospinning produces polymeric fibers with diameters in the range of 10μm–10nm by accelerating a charged polymer jet under a high electric field. We report the preparation of conducting nanocomposite fibers of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by electrospinning. The fibers obtained are long and well aligned. The carbon nanotubes are found to be oriented along the fiber axis. The room temperature dc electrical conductivity of a single fiber with MWCNT (0.05% w/w) shows about a ten orders of magnitude improvement from the pure PMMA. The conductivity increases with MWCNT concentration.