Polymer/Carbon Nanotube Composite Nanofibers

To improve the compatibility between CNTs and polymers, the surface functionalization of CNTs has been developed (Kharaziha et al., 2014; Molnar et al., 2008; Ra et al., 2005; Mazinani et al., 2009; Yee et al., 2012; Subagia et al., 2014; Diouri et al., 2014). For instance, Kharaziha et al. established a simple strategy to prepare electrospun gelatin/CNT composite nanofibers by using carboxyl acid groupemodified CNTs, and the well-dispersed CNTs aligned along the fibrous axis could be observed (Fig. 3.15B). This work demonstrated CNTs as a component of tough and flexible scaffolds with outstanding electrical properties (Kharaziha et al., 2014). Molnar et al. (2008) synthesized PVA/CNT composite nanofibers with diverse types of CNTs and different functional groups via electrospinning. Furthermore, other synthetic methods such as electrospinning combined with electrospraying and a surface adsorption approach have been developed as well (Xuyen et al., 2009; Kim et al., 2006b; Vaisman et al., 2007; Dai et al., 2011; Rana and Cho, 2011).