Nanofibers containing TiO2 nanoparticles formed using conventional and non-conventional electrospinning

Electrospinning is a simple technique that has been largely used in the fabrication of nanofibers for a vast number of applications. In this work, we studied the formation of fibers containing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), colloidal titanium dioxide (TiO
₂
) nanoparticles, and ethyl alcohol as solvent. Titanium dioxide presents electrical, electrochemical, and catalytic properties that find several relevant applications. Fibers were formed using conventional electrospinning and, also, a non-conventional setup that uses a collector that consists of two connected parallel conducing wires separated by centimeters. The purpose of this modification was to obtain a net of fibers formed between the two parallel wires. Using a colloidal solution with an appropriated viscosity, a netlike structure is formed between the wires of the collector, with fibers presenting a certain degree of orientation (an advantage of the proposed modification of the electrospinning setup), and with diameters in the range of micro and nanometers. The use of Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the incorporation of titanium dioxide in the fibers.