Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Mataz Alcoutlabi

Second Advisor

Dr. Mircea Chipara

Third Advisor

Dr. M. Jasim Uddin

Abstract

The study of this thesis focuses on the force spinning of polymer composite nanofibers for antibacterial and energy storage applications. For energy application, Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymers with active materials (Sn & Ti) and for antibacterial purposes, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and Polyethylene-oxide (PEO) polymers along with NPs (Ag and Cu), both were centrifugally spun to get finer nanofibers. The spun produced nanofibers of each types ascertained the percentage of active materials accurately. Antibacterial test on PEO/Ag composite nanofibers exhibited 100% inhibition efficiency against E. coli and B. cereus bacteria while PVP/Cu, PEO/Cu fibrous membranes showed 97.98%, 98.99% respectively. CuNPs and AgNPswere well embedded onto nanofibers at nanoscale level, assisting to inhibit bacterial growth. On the other hand, as an energy storage anode material, force spun, and coated PAN/PMMA/SnO2/TiO2 composite nanofibers displayed excellent electrochemical performances in sodium ion battery (SIB). Volume expansion, capacity fading are regular problems of SnO2 anode, however SnO2 coupled with TiO2 facilitated stabilized capacity retention along with cycle stability. Centrifugally spun PAN/PMMA/SnO2/TiO2 nanofibers showed lower capacity fading and more stability than SnO2/TiO2 coated nanofibers. Additionally, carbonized PAN/PMMA nanofibers coated with SnO2/TiO2 anode performed better rate capacity and stability over prolonged cycles than slurry-based anode since coating assists to packing metal oxides short fibers-throughout intra and inter layers uniformly. Such an effective anode and strong antibacterial agent obtained from force spun composite fibers could be promising for energy and biomedical applications in future.

Comments

Copyright 2021 MD Toukir Hasan. All Rights Reserved.

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/utrgv.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/processing-characterization-nano-composite-fibers/docview/2596025552/se-2?accountid=7119

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