Novel Conductive rGO/PEDOT:PSS/PVA Nanofibers by Electrospinning.

Conductive fibers are widely used in coatings and related applications. An effective production method is important. In this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was added into the solution of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The rGO/PEDOT: PSS/PVA conductive nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning using a high-speed horizontal rotating collector instead of a traditional plane collector. The thermal behavior of composite nanofibers with rGO showed good stability compared with PEDOT: PSS/PVA nanofibers. The results show that the conductivity of nanofibers film was enhanced significantly by 100% when the content of 0.2% rGO in the PEDOT: PSS/PVA nanofiber. Further increase of rGO component content resulted in a limited increase in conductivity but with a sharp decline of the mechanical properties of the fibers. The tensile property of the nanofibers gained a significant improvement by 46.9% and 66.5% in the arc and radial direction, which indicates that high-speed horizontal rotating reception can make the texture more regular and stronger in the process of electrospinning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]