## 3 Results and Discussion
### Characterization of Electrospun PET, WPET, PET-SiAMPy, and WPET-SiAMPy Nanofibres
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Sample Code** & **Polymer** & **Solvent** & **Flow Rate** & **Applied** & **Distance** & **Modification** \\  & **Concentration (wt\%)** & **Type** & **(mL/h)** & **Voltage (kV)** & **(cm)** & **Modification** \\ \hline PET & 10 & TFA & 0.8 & 17 & 17 & - \\ WPET & 10 & TFA & 0.05 & 17 & 14 & - \\ PET-SiAMPy & 10 & TFA & 0.8 & 20 & 14 & Composite/blend \\ WPET-SiAMPy & 10 & TFA & 0.05 & 20 & 14 & Composite/blend \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Sample codes and optimum electrospinning conditions for each sample. The spectrum of both PET and WPET in Figure 2a shows a weak band at 2900 cm\({}^{-1}\) that corresponds to the C-H functional group [18]. The carbonyl stretch C=O ester functional group was shown by a strong band at 1720 cm\({}^{-1}\). The asymmetric C-C-O is present at 1260 cm\({}^{-1}\) and the O-C-C stretching at 1100 cm\({}^{-1}\) band. The strong peak at 700 cm\({}^{-1}\) represents the shifted aromatic functional group C-H wag, which was affected by the presence of the carbonyl functional group [19]. Figure 2c of SiAMPy itself shows relatively weak absorption bands from 3004 to 3300 cm\({}^{-1}\) which are indicative of the amine functional group in the functionalized commercial silica supported 2-aminomethylpyridine. The CH functional group vibrations are weakly visible in the wavelength that is between 2821 and 3004 cm\({}^{-1}\) absorption band [20]. The fingerprint region ranging from 600 to 1148 cm\({}^{-1}\) presents very strong absorption bands that identify amino-methyl(pyridine). This is affirmed by the absorption band at 955 cm\({}^{-1}\) which indicates the Si-O functional group stretching modes [21]. The absorption band at 629 cm\({}^{-1}\) was assigned to NH\({}_{2}\) rocking mode. The region from 600 to 650 cm\({}^{-1}\) exhibited the CCN functional group which was also present in the functionalized commercial silica supported 2-aminomethylpyridine ring [22]. The FTIR patterns for the PET-SiAMPy and WPET-SiAMPy composite nanofibres formed through the blending process via electrospinning is shown in Figure 2b. The spectra demonstrated the weak band intensity that corresponds to the N-H functional group attributed to the SiAMPy at 3258 cm\({}^{-1}\). The carbonyl stretch C=O ester functional group was shown at 1714 cm\({}^{-1}\) with a strong intensity band. The asymmetric C-C-O was present at 1265 cm\({}^{-1}\) and 1246 cm\({}^{-1}\) with a strong intensity band, while the O-C-C stretching was visible with a strong band at 1100 cm\({}^{-1}\). The strong peak at 725 cm\({}^{-1}\) represents the shifted aromatic functional group C-H wag, which was affected by the presence of the carbonyl functional group present in polyethylene terephthalate [19]. The relatively weak absorption band at 3258 cm\({}^{-1}\) is indicative of the amine functional group which relates to NH vibrations in the functionalized commercial silica supported 2-aminomethylpyridine (SiAMPy). The CH functional group vibrations are weakly visible in the wavelengths between 2952 cm\({}^{-1}\) and 2853 cm\({}^{-1}\) absorption bands. The fingerprint region, ranging from 725 cm\({}^{-1}\) to 1100 cm\({}^{-1}\), presents very strong absorption bands that possess the characteristics of aminomethylpyridine, which was also present in the functionalized commercial silica supported 2-aminomethylpyridine ring [22]. The TGA and first derivative weight loss plots obtained under N\({}_{2}\) inert atmosphere are shown in Figure 3. The thermal decomposition of the PET nanofibres under pyrolytic inert conditions with a N\({}_{2}\) flow rate of 20 mL/min started with the gradual 8.12% increase in weight from 15 \({}^{\circ}\)C to \(\sim\)380 \({}^{\circ}\)C. The initial 8.12% weight increase in the PET nanofibres was related to the expansion of the PET nanofibres, which was due to an endothermic reaction occurring.