Wet‐spinning and carbonization of graphene/PAN‐based fibers: Toward improving the properties of carbon fibers

Abstract

Graphene/polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based composite fibers, as monofilaments, multifilaments, and yarns, were prepared through a facile solution mixing and wet-spinning method. The PAN-based (PANb) precursor was synthesized via reversible additionfragmentation chain transfer polymerization with N-isopropylacrylamide as a comonomer. Following wet-spinning, the PANb yarns were carbonized at 900 C. Scanning electron microscopy images confirmed the presence of a homogenous dispersion of graphene nanosheets inside the polymer matrix. It has been shown that the addition of graphene not only enhanced the thermal and mechanical properties of the PANb fibers, but also improved their graphitic structure after heat treatment. Tensile strength and Young's modulus of the PANb yarns were increased by 28 and 20%, respectively, on addition of 0.5 wt % graphene. Raman spectra demonstrated improvement in the graphitic structure of the carbonized yarns even at low graphene content. These graphene/ PANb fibers show potential as a suitable precursor for the development of next generation carbon fibers.

Simple Fabrication of Multicomponent Heterogeneous Fibers for Cell Co‐Culture via Microfluidic Spinning

“…Current methods of preparing fibers mainly include melt spinning,14 wet spinning,15,16 and electrospinning 17–19. However, the presence of high temperatures and volatile solvents in the melt spinning and electrospinning processes limits the encapsulation of cells, microtissues, and other bioactive molecules in fibers 20.…”

Designing Materials and Processes for Strong Polyacrylonitrile Precursor Fibers

“…The comparable mechanical performance of the high-loading composite precursor to the raw PAN fiber provides a potential for manufacturing biomass-derived carbon fibers. [114], copyright 2015 American Chemical Society).…”

“…Cellulose nanomaterials with high tensile strength (7.5 GPa) and modulus (110–220 GPa) have been applied as low-cost and biobased alternative reinforcements [ 114 , 115 ]. By compositing cellulose nanocrystal to the PAN matrix up to 10 wt%, Young’s modulus of the precursor fibers was increased from 14.5 to 19.6 GPa according to the rule of mixture ( Figure 13 ), and the tensile strength improved from 624 to 709 MPa owing to the microstructural changes, such as better chain alignment and crystallinity increases from 50 to 62% [ 114 ]. It was confirmed that the cellulose nanocrystal reinforcements also contributed to the advancement of the mechanical performance of carbon fibers [ 115 , 116 ].…”

“…It was confirmed that the cellulose nanocrystal reinforcements also contributed to the advancement of the mechanical performance of carbon fibers [ 115 , 116 ]. In fact, the main purpose of the search for biomass additives, such as cellulose, lignin, and alpaca fiber, is eco-friendliness and cost effectiveness [ 114 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 ]. It is inevitable to avoid deterioration of the mechanical performance following the composition with the biomass-derived additives owing to the low carbon atomic content and ineffective molecular structure that is intended to be carbonized.…”

“… Young’s modulus change as the cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) content increased. Insets are SEM images of fracture surface of fibers of PAN and PAN/CNC 10 wt% (reprinted with permission from [ 114 ], copyright 2015 American Chemical Society). …”