Fabrication and Characterization of Modified Graphene Oxide/PAN Hybrid Nanofiber Membrane.

In this study, a series of novel modified graphene oxide (MGO)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hybrid nanofiber membranes were fabricated by electrospinning a PAN solution containing up to 1.0 wt.% MGO. The GO was initially prepared by a time-saving improved Hummer's method. Subsequently, the formation of GO was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), AFM, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Raman spectroscopy. This study also prepared the modified GO with polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (GP) by using a simple surface post-treatment method to improve its dispersion. Varying amounts of GP were incorporated into PAN nanofibers for the better properties of GP/PAN nanofibers, such as hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, and so on. The resulting GP/PAN hybrid nanofiber membranes were characterized by SEM, FTIR, contact angle, and thermal and mechanical properties. These results showed that the hydrophilic and mechanical properties of GP/PAN hybrid nanofiber membranes were dramatically improved, i.e., 50% improvement for hydrophilicity and 3-4 times higher strength for mechanical property, which indicated the possibility for water treatment application. In addition, the notably improved thermal stability results showed that the hybrid nanofiber membranes could also be a potential candidate for the secondary battery separator.