**5. Applications of carbon nanofibers**

The application of CNF continues to develop today, based on the characteristics of CNF in the form of morphology and electrical properties, CNF has the potential to be applied to various fields, as shown in **Figure 10**, applications of CNF can be developed in the field of sensors, environmental applications and fields of electronics and electronics. Optical devices including energy storage fields.

Based on the characterization on the morphology and electrical properties of CNF, it is very possible to apply to sensor devices, the principle of chemiresistor sensors is more widely used for gas sensors because these sensors can be made easily and at relatively low cost. The chemiresistor mechanism is the reaction that occurs between the layers on the electrode and the gas which will result in a change in the value of resistance or conductivity.

**Figure 10.**

*General application areas of Carbon nanofibers [1].*

**Figure 11.** *Schematic of CNF application in sensor device fabrication.*

**51**

*Fabrication of PVA/Carbon-Based Nanofibers Using Electrospinning*

This change occurs due to the transfer of valence electrons to the atoms of the sensor material due to the reaction with the reactant gas. The changes that occur are decreased resistance or increased conductance. Conductivity indicates the ability of a material to conduct electric current. The conductivity value can be determined by

> *1* σ

> > ρ

Where σ is electrical conductivity (1/Ω.m) and ρ is electrical resistivity (Ω.m), the CNF application scheme for sensors can be seen in **Figure 11**. Whereas CNF which has been fabricated has high porosity and very high capacitance values. Good for capturing salt ions, it is very potential to be applied to Electrodes For Capacitive

Synthesis of CNF using electrospinning is an important part of this research, the synthesis process plays an important role in the quality of the CNF produced. In addition, the results of characterization of the different morphological structures of the CNFs formed show different properties, so that surface modification can help make CNF compatible for various applications. The characterization results show that the electrospinning result of the CNF composite diameter is in the range 200–450 nm, this shows that the electrospinning process with a rotating drum collector has advantages compared to a stationary plate type collector. Based on the electrical properties of the CNF I-V meter measurement results, a good conductivity value is obtained, which is due to the larger surface area of the CNF making it easier for electrons to move freely, so that CNF has the potential to be a good and modern sensor material. Whereas from the capacitive properties measured by the cyclic voltammogram (CV) curve with 5 mV/s and a measuring temperature of 25 °C shows the ideal behavior of the capacitor, the ideal CV curve with an almost square shape at different scanning sweep rates, so the use of CNF as a capacitive

This work was supported by Department of Physics and Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat (LPPM), Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember.

Deionization (CDI) with the scheme that can be seen in **Figure 12**.

<sup>=</sup> (2)

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96175*

the equation below.

**6. Conclusions**

electrode is proper application.

**Acknowledgements**

**Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

*Fabrication of PVA/Carbon-Based Nanofibers Using Electrospinning DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96175*

This change occurs due to the transfer of valence electrons to the atoms of the sensor material due to the reaction with the reactant gas. The changes that occur are decreased resistance or increased conductance. Conductivity indicates the ability of a material to conduct electric current. The conductivity value can be determined by the equation below.

$$
\sigma = \frac{1}{\rho} \tag{2}
$$

Where σ is electrical conductivity (1/Ω.m) and ρ is electrical resistivity (Ω.m), the CNF application scheme for sensors can be seen in **Figure 11**. Whereas CNF which has been fabricated has high porosity and very high capacitance values. Good for capturing salt ions, it is very potential to be applied to Electrodes For Capacitive Deionization (CDI) with the scheme that can be seen in **Figure 12**.
