Electrospinning and optical characterization of organic rubrene nanofibers

Abstract

We report on the preparation of continuous organic rubrene nanofibers using the electrospinning method. We added the minimal amount of poly (ethylene oxide) in the electro-spinning solution to provide the viscosity required for electrospinning. Optical characteristics such as absorption, photoluminescence, and Raman spectra all confirmed the successful formation of rubrene nanofibers. Confocal Raman spectra obtained from single rubrene nanofibers showed co-existence of the amorphous and the crystal phase of the rubrene molecule. We also demonstrated that our rubrene nanofibers can be used as efficient optical waveguides. Our result suggests that abundant fluorescent, continuous nanofibers of small molecule materials can be successfully prepared using electrospinning. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4729537]