Obtaining of carbon nanofibers based on polyacrylonitrile by the method of electrospinning

Abstract

Since carbon nanofibers comprise a continuous reinforcing with high specific surface area, associated with the fact that they can be obtained at a low cost and in a large amount, they have shown to be advantageous compared to traditional carbon nanotubes. The main objective of this work is the processing of carbon nanofibers, using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as a precursor, obtained by the electrospinning process via polymer solution, with subsequent use as a reinforcement in polymer composites. The paper reports the fabrication and characterization of PAN nanofibers by electrospinning and further development of the as-spun PAN nanofibers into carbon nanofibers. PAN nanofibers as a precursor of carbon nanofibers with diameters in the range of 100–500 nm were prepared by electrospinning of PAN/DMF solution. The aligned electrospun PAN nanofibers first stabilized in air at temperature 250°C for 1 hr. We also investigated several carbonization procedures by varying final carbonization temperatures in the range from 600-900ºC in argon atmospheres and the carbon nanofibers were successfully obtained at 700ºC and 1 hr. Morphologies of PAN, stabilized and carbonized nanofibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained from SEM showed that the average diameter of the stabilized and carbonized PAN nanofibers was significantly reduced.