CARBON FIBERS PROCESSED FROM POLYACRYLONITRILE/CARBON NANOTUBE COMPOSITES

摘要

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and PAN/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite fibers have been processedusing gel spinning. Tensile strength and tensile modulus of these gel spun fibers can be higherthan 1.0 Gpa and 25 Gpa, respectively. These fibers have been stabilized in the temperaturerange of 175 to 350 oC and carbonized in the temperature range of 600 to 1500 oC. Fiberscarbonized in the 1100 to 1300 oC exhibit tensile modulus as high as 600 Gpa and tensilestrength as high as 6 Gpa. These studies were carried out in batch processing mode, whereresidence time for carbonization was several hours. It is expected that in continuous processing,where much shorter residence time can be used, substantially higher tensile strength can beachieved than obtained from batch processing. Results of PAN/CNT solution spinning, gelspinning, as well as their stabilized and carbonized products are briefly reviewed here.