Fabrication of Polystyrene/Gold Nanoparticle Composite Nanofibers

Abstract

We have fabricated polystyrene/naphthalenthiol-capped gold nanoparticle composite films and nanofibers using spin casting and electrospinning techniques, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that the diameter of the gold nanoparticles is between 2 to 5 nm. UV-vis spectroscopy observes the surface plasmon peak of the gold nanoparticles centered at 520 nm. Thermal properties of polystyrene/gold nanoparticle composite films are analyzed by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) depending on the concentration of the gold nanoparticles in the polystyrene matrix. The electrospun nanofibers of polystyrene and polystyrene/gold nanoparticle composite are about 200 - 800 nm in diameter. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), TEM, and DSC have been used to characterize the electrospun polystyrene/gold nanoparticle composite nanofibers.