Effect of Thermal Stabilization on PAN-Derived Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers for CO2 Capture

Abstract

Carbon capture is amongst the key emerging technologies for the mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHG) pollution. Several materials as adsorbents for CO2 and other gases are being developed, which often involve using complex and expensive fabrication techniques. In this work, we suggest a sound, easy and cheap route for the production of nitrogen-doped carbon materials for CO2 capture by pyrolysis of electrospun poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) fibers. PAN fibers are generally processed following specific heat treatments involving up to three steps (to get complete graphitization), one of these being stabilization, during which PAN fibers are oxidized and stretched in the 200–300 °C temperature range. The effect of stabilization temperature on the chemical structure of the carbon nanofibers is investigated herein to ascertain the possible implication of incomplete conversion/condensation of nitrile groups to form pyridine moieties on the CO2 adsorption capacity. The materials were tested in the pure CO2 atmosphere at 20 °C achieving 18.3% of maximum weight increase (equivalent to an uptake of 4.16 mmol g−1), proving the effectiveness of a high stabilization temperature as route for the improvement of CO2 uptake.

Designing of Drug Delivery Systems to Improve the Antimicrobial Efficacy in the Periodontal Pocket Based on Biodegradable Polyesters

“…The average diameters of the fibres after loading of PCANs were in the range of 2.0–3.0 μm. Disordered fibres in the electrospun nonwoven have an impact on the formation of porous structures with different densities [ 30 , 31 ]. The appearance of the sample’s surface morphology under the higher magnification resulted from the gradual softening of the material during the analysis.…”

The Nanofibrous CaO Sorbent for CO2 Capture

“…The main weight drop of 81.4 wt.% is observed between 148 and 581 °C and corresponds to the stabilization of PAN and its combustion at the elevated temperatures in an oxygen-containing atmosphere (insert of Figure 1 ) and the decomposition of CaAA resulting in the formation of CaCO 3 [ 22 ]. The stabilization of PAN is a multistage process that occurs at about 300 °C and includes the cyclization of the nitrile groups and cross-linking of the chain molecules, followed by dehydrogenation and oxidative reactions [ 23 ]. The polymer completely burns out near 600 °C and the filaments contain only CaCO 3 up to 630 °C, since the last weight decrease from 11.9 to 6.6 wt.% between 630 and 717 °C corresponds to the transformation of CaCO 3 to CaO.…”

Designing of Drug Delivery Systems to Improve the Antimicrobial Efficacy in the Periodontal Pocket Based on Biodegradable Polyesters

“…The average diameters of the fibres after loading of PCANs were in the range of 2.0-3.0 µm. Disordered fibres in the electrospun nonwoven have an impact on the formation of porous structures with different densities [30,31]. The appearance of the sample's surface morphology under the higher magnification resulted from the gradual softening of the material during the analysis.…”