Investigation of electroactive behavior of PVA/TiO ₂ nanofibers webs coated with polyaniline

In the present research, PVA/TiO 2 nanofiber webs were electrospun to make flexible web actuators and the effect of TiO 2 nanoparticles was investigated on the morphology, electrical and mechanical properties, and electrochemical actuation. In manufacturing part, increasing the percentage of nanoparticles enhances both the viscosity of the polymer solution and the mean fiber diameter. The electrical resistance of nanofibers webs reduced with reducing applied pressure and with increasing percentage of TiO 2 nanoparticles. It is observed that TiO 2 nanoparticles increased the electrochemical redox reaction and the actuation strain of polyaniline-coated nanofiber webs. Also, 15 wt% nanoparticle exhibits an actuation strain of 2.9%. The results obtained from the image analysis indicated that the actuation strain of fibers is considerably higher than that of the nanofiberous webs.