Polymer Science Faculty Research

Title

Development of carbon nanofibers from aligned electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber bundles and characterization of their microstructural, electrical, and mechanical properties

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-19-2009

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers with diameters of 200–300 nm were developed through stabilization and carbonization of aligned electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber bundles. Prior to the oxidative stabilization in air, the electrospun PAN nanofiber bundle was tightly wrapped onto a glass rod, so that tension existed during the stabilization. We also investigated several carbonization procedures by varying final carbonization temperatures in the range from 1000 to 2200 °C. The study revealed that: (1) with increase of the final carbonization temperature, the carbon nanofibers became more graphitic and structurally ordered; (2) the carbon nanofiber bundles possessed anisotropic electrical conductivities, and the differences between the parallel and perpendicular directions to the bundle axes were over 20 times; and (3) the tensile strengths and Young's moduli of the prepared carbon nanofiber bundles were in the ranges of 300–600 MPa and 40–60 GPa, respectively.

Publication Title

Polymer

Volume

50

Issue

13

First Page

2999

Last Page

3006

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