Preparation of Polyacrylonitrile-Kapok Hollow Microtubes Decorated with Cu Nanoparticles

¹ Sustainable Electronic Materials Group, Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of the Philippines, 1101 Diliman, Quezon City
² Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

^a Corresponding author: apolloagcaoili@yahoo.com.ph
^b ishihara@energy.kyoto-u.ac.jp
^c mlbalela1@up.edu.ph

Abstract

A novel copper (Cu) nanoparticle carrier was fabricated using kapok natural microtubes as a substrate. Cu nanoparticles were grown on a thin polymer film on the surface of the kapok fibers. The polymer film was deposited on the surface of the microtube using a surfactant-assisted polymerization of acrylonitrile monomers. Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was used surfactant. The contact angle decreased from 120.5 to 0 after polyacrylonitrile coating (PAN), which suggests improved hydrophilicity of the kapok fibers. Addition of 1.5 mL acrylonitrile and 0.020 – 0.035 g CTAB yielded evenly coated kapok fibers. Cu nanoparticles, with diameters of 82-186 nm, were formed on the surface of the composite by reducing 0.16 M copper sulphate (CuSO₄) with hydrazine (N₂H₄) at 70°C. EDX reveals that more Cu nanoparticles formed on the surface of PAN-kapok composites with 0.035g CTAB due to thicker PAN coating.