Effect of adding lignin on preparation and properties of pitch/PAN‐derived electrospun nanofibers inducing cross‐linking structure

Abstract

In this work, the content of lignin, pitch, and PAN as well as the preparation process would be systematically controlled in order to prepare carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with cross‐linked structure, high specific surface area, and good flexibility. The evolution of nanofibers with different lignin contents during stabilization and carbonization were explored, and the properties of the resultant CNFs as supercapacitor self‐supported electrodes were compared. The results indicated that with the increase of lignin content, not only cross‐linked structures were introduced in CNFs, but also the flexibility were obviously improved, accomplishing for supercapacitor self‐supported electrodes. Moreover, CNFs with different content of lignin varied in fiber morphology and microstructure, harvesting developed porous structure in CNFs. PPL3‐CNF prepared with adding lignin at a mass ratio of 3/7 into a concentration of 10 wt.% pitch/PAN solution presented the highest specific surface area of 949 m2 g−1, exhibiting an excellent specific capacitance of 190.7 F g−1 at 0.2 A g−1.