A polymer/metal core–shell nanofiber membrane by electrospinning with an electric field, and its application for catalyst support

Abstract

In the present study, PVP/Ag nanofibers with a core–shell structure have been successfully prepared by using the electrospinning technique under the action of electric field induction. PVP (polyvinyl pyrrolidone), as the functional template during electrospinning, plays an important role both as the reducing agent and as the capping agent. The structure and properties of the thus-obtained nanofibers have been investigated thoroughly through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) have also been employed to analyze the coordination interactions and chemical states of the core–shell nanofiber surface. Moreover, a static simulation of an electric-field-induced experiment has been carried out and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS) has been performed to demonstrate the field-induced mechanism. The results prove the fact that the electric field plays an important role on the induction of silver migration and formation of core–shell nanofibers. On the other hand, UV-Vis spectrophotometry has been used to test the catalytic properties of the samples for the reduction of methylene blue (MB) by NaBH₄, it shows that PVP/Ag core–shell nanofibers hold great potential in the field of catalysis.