Journal Articles
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Item Structural characterization of nano-crystalline Co3O4 ultra-fine fibers obtained by sol-gel electrospinning(2013) George, G.; Anandhan, S.In this paper, we report the obtention of ultrafine fibers of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) by combining electrospinning method with high-temperature calcinations from the precursor sol of poly(2-ethyl-2- oxazoline) (PEtOx)/cobalt acetate tetrahydrate [Co(CH3COO) 2·4H2O] in water. The optimum electrospinning conditions for obtaining precursor composite nanofibers from PEtOx/Co(CH 3COO)2·4H2O solution in water, to produce ceramic nanofibers, were studied. The average fiber diameter of the precursor composite fibers measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was approximately 200 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis of PEtOx was performed to estimate the suitable calcination temperature of the precursor fibers. SEM images of the ceramic fibers obtained after calcination revealed the shrinkage in diameter due to complete degradation of the polymer and Co(CH 3COO)2·4H2O. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to ensure the complete pyrolysis of polymer during calcinations of the composite fibers. Crystalline properties of the ceramic fibers were studied by X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The ceramic fibers are polycrystalline with an average grain size of ?40 nm obtained at a calcination temperature of 773 K. It was observed that the grain sizes increased as the calcination temperature was increased, due to self assembly mechanism. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.Item A comparative study on the physico-chemical properties of sol-gel electrospun cobalt oxide nanofibres from two different polymeric binders(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) George, G.; Anandhan, S.In this study, two different sacrificial polymeric binders, namely poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) and poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) along with cobalt acetate tetrahydrate (CATH), as the metal oxide precursor, were used for the fabrication of Co3O4 nanofibres through sol-gel electrospinning. It was observed that the degradation behaviour and physical properties of SAN and PEtOx influenced the structure, morphology and spectral properties of Co3O4 nanofibres, as the properties of the nanofibres obtained from the aforementioned systems were compared with each other. The grain size, shape and the activation energies for grain growth of Co3O4 nanofibres obtained from these two polymeric systems were different. This difference in grain size and shape caused a difference in the optical band gap energies and the magnetic properties of the Co3O4 nanofibres. This study reveals that one can tailor the characteristics of cobalt oxide nanofibres by an appropriate selection of polymeric binders for sol-gel electrospinning. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.