Study of a melt processable polymer precursor for carbon fiber

• Published in: Carbon Letters Vol. 29; no. 6; pp. 605 - 612
• Main Authors: Mahmood, Samsuddin F., Batchelor, Benjamin L., Jung, Minhye, Park, Kyusoon, Voit, Walter E., Novak, Bruce M., Yang, Duck
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.12.2019; Springer Nature B.V; 한국탄소학회
• Subjects: Acrylonitrile; Annealing; Carbon; Carbon fiber reinforced plastics; Carbon fibers; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composite materials; Copolymers; Environmental impact; Fibers; Fourier transforms; Materials Engineering; Materials Science; Mechanical properties; Melt spinning; Nanotechnology; Original Article; Polyacrylonitrile; Polymers; Prepolymers; Production costs; Solution spinning; Solvents; 자연과학일반; Char yield; Carbonization; Annealing; Carbon precursor; Carbon fiber
• ISSN: 1976-4251; 2233-4998
• DOI: 10.1007/s42823-019-00059-3

Carbon fibers (CF) are predominantly being manufactured from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based precursors which require solution spinning utilizing health hazardous organic solvent. This also adds to the cost of production due to the investment for the solvent recovery. Study of melt processable precursors has long been sought as a solution for health and environmental problems associated with the use of hazardous solvent. No use of solvent for spinning will also reduce the cost of manufacturing. Our coworker Deng et al. reported the possibility of using acrylonitrile-co-1-vinylimidazole (AN/VIM) copolymer as melt processable CF precursor. Here we report a successful preparation of carbon fiber from the co-polymer. We successfully demonstrated the preparation of thinner precursor fibers and carbon fibers through our optimization study of melt spinning, annealing, stabilization and carbonization.