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PMMA and PMMA/10 wt% nano-AlO fibre mats were produced by means of electrospinning and used as reinforcing phase of poly(ε-caprolactone) matrix. The composite films were fabricated by means of film-stacking technique. SEM observations showed good wettability of PMMA-based fibres by the PCL matrix, confirming that a strong interface was formed. The AlO nanoparticles were well-distributed along the polymeric fibres. The introduction of PMMA fibres as a reinforcement led to a clear benefit in terms of the mechanical strength (11.5 ± 0.5 MPa), the value for neat PCL being 8.2 ± 2.2 MPa. The tensile strength was further increased when the fibres were loaded with nano-AlO (14.4 ± 0.6 MPa) due to both the presence of the ceramic filler and the smaller diameter of the composite fibres. A less marked improvement was instead found on stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zn-doped TiO2nanofibers shelled with ZnO hierarchical nanoarchitectures have been fabricated combining electrospinning of TiO2(anatase) nanofibers and metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of ZnO. The proposed hybrid approach has proven suitable for tailoring both the morphology of the ZnO external shell as well as the crystal structure of the Zn-doped TiO2core. It has been found that the Zn dopant is incorporated in calcined electrospun nanofibers without any evidence of ZnO aggregates. Effects of different Zn doping levels of Zn-doped TiO2fibers have been scrutinized and morphological, structural, physico-chemical and optical properties evaluated before and after the hierarchical growth of the external ZnO shell over the electrospun nanofibers. Moreover, doping promotes the incipient transition from the anatase to rutile phase in the core–shell Zn-doped TiO2–ZnO nanostructures at lower temperature than that observed for pure TiO2. Finally, the present core–shell hierarchical nanofibers possess a very large surface to volume ratio and exhibit a marked cathodoluminescence with a strong UV and visible emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]