Polyacrylonitrile sheath and polyacrylonitrile/lignin core bi-component carbon fibers

摘要

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) sheath and PAN/lignin core bi-component fibers have been processed using gel spinning and subsequently carbonized by batch process. By varying the sheath-core volume fraction in the bi-component fibers, solid-sheath/solid-core or solid-sheath/porous-core low density carbon fibers have been manufactured. The solid core fiber, with a lignin content of similar to 31 wt%, can be stabilized and carbonized to carbon fiber with a tensile modulus as high as 274 GPa. Carbon fibers with a porous, honeycomb-structured core is reported with a tensile modulus value of 242 GPa. While the lignin incorporation enhances the cost-effectiveness and renewability of carbon fibers, the methods and results in this work demonstrate an approach to harness the design and manufacturing of robust PAN/lignin blend carbon fibers and porous low-density carbon fibers enabled by lignin utilization. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.