Electrospun Hydrophobic Polyaniline/Silk Fibroin Electrochromic Nanofibers with Low Electrical Resistance

• Main Authors: Chun-Yu Chen, Szu Ying Huang, Hung-Yu Wan, Yi-Ting Chen, Sheng-Ka Yu, Hsuan-Chen Wu, Ta-I Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: electrospinning; electroactive nanofiber; silk fibroin
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/9/2102

Electronic textiles (E-textiles) have been an area of intense industrial and academic research for years due to their advanced applications. Thus, the goal of this study was to develop highly conductive silk fibroin electrochromic nanofibers for use in E-textiles. The silk nanofibers were prepared by an electrospinning technique, and the conductive polyaniline (PANI) was added to impart the electrical conductivity and electroactive property to the resultant electrospun silk composite nanofibers. The experimental results showed that tuning the electrospinning procedure could control the morphology of the composite nanofibers, thus altering their mechanical properties and surface wettability. Furthermore, the developed PANI/silk composite fibers possess electroactive and electrochromic properties, such as adjusting the applied voltage. The developed strategy demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating not only electrical functionality but also electroactivity into sustainable silk nanofibers using electrospinning technique.