Stable electrospun hydrogel fibers (EHFs) were produced from polyelectrolyte complexes coordinated with various metal ions. This development provides a novel and promising approach to advance hydrogel fiber applications by creating fibers with high stability in solutions and controlled interfacial reactions. The embedded ions not only improve EHF stability but also act as precursors for fabricating nanoparticles on fibers. The interactions between metal ions and polyelectrolytes dictated metal ion diffusion kinetics. EHFs have been used as reactors to produced different nanoparticles and nanostructures on fibers. For example, core-shell nanofibers containing polyacrylic acid (PAA) and manganese oxide nanoparticles as the core and polypyrrole (PPy) as the shell were fabricated through electrospining the solutions of PAA and manganese ions (PAA/Mn<sup>2+</sup>). The obtained flexible nanostructured mats were further investigated as supercapacitor electrodes, showing remarkable enhancements in specific capacitance, charge/discharge ability, as well as cyclic stability.

Mutifunctional polyelectrolyte fibers with metal ions

255th National Meeting (2018)

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