Polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite fibers from acrylonitrile-grafted carbon nanofibers

Nitilaksha Hiremath; Maria Cecilia Evora; Amit K. Naskar; Jimmy Mays; Gajanan Bhat

doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2017.07.031

Polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite fibers from acrylonitrile-grafted carbon nanofibers

Nitilaksha Hiremath, Maria Cecilia Evora, Amit K. Naskar, Jimmy Mays, Gajanan Bhat

Carbon and Composites

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

For the first time, uniform distribution of surface functionalized carbon nanofibers (CNFs) has been achieved in low molecular weight (≈120,000 g/mol) textile grade-polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based composite filaments. Surface grafting of CNFs with acrylonitrile enhances the dispersion of nanofibers in PAN fiber matrix. XPS study reveals high atomic nitrogen content (7%) on the CNF surface due to the grafting reaction. The solution-spun filaments have been characterized for distribution of CNFs in the PAN matrix by electron microscopy. PAN composite filaments containing 3.2 wt.% CNF and processed at draw ratio of ≈6.3 exhibit enhanced tensile strength and modulus by more than three folds compared to the control PAN filament. Because of chemically compatible surface modification of the nanofibers, better dispersion and improved mechanical properties were accomplished in the reinforced PAN fibers. This should allow the production of CNF reinforced carbon fibers with improved tensile properties. An increase in CNF loading (6.4 wt.%), however, reduced performance due to inefficient alignment of CNF along the fiber axis. Nevertheless, hot stretching (at draw ratio ≈ 10) of the filaments enhanced tensile strength and elastic modulus of PAN composite filaments by 20–30% compared to the control hot stretched PAN filaments.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	64-69
Number of pages	6
Journal	Composites Part B: Engineering
Volume	130
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2017.07.031
State	Published - Dec 1 2017

Funding

We would like to thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científicoe Tecnológico (CNPq) (249849/2013-5) for Dr. Maria Cecilia Evora's postdoc scholarship and NASA for the financial support provided (NASA EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement NNX13AD41A). Also, we would like to thank Dr. Roberto Uribe from Kent State University and NEO Beam – Mercury Plastics, Inc. for the radiation experiments and Dr. Kunlun Hong from the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences(CNMS), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for XPS results. JM acknowledges support from a CNMS User Project. The author would like to thank Ramiz Boy for help in DMA tests, conducted at ORNL.

Funders	Funder number
CNMS
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	NNX13AD41A
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Kent State University
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico	249849/2013-5

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title = "Polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite fibers from acrylonitrile-grafted carbon nanofibers",

abstract = "For the first time, uniform distribution of surface functionalized carbon nanofibers (CNFs) has been achieved in low molecular weight (≈120,000 g/mol) textile grade-polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based composite filaments. Surface grafting of CNFs with acrylonitrile enhances the dispersion of nanofibers in PAN fiber matrix. XPS study reveals high atomic nitrogen content (7%) on the CNF surface due to the grafting reaction. The solution-spun filaments have been characterized for distribution of CNFs in the PAN matrix by electron microscopy. PAN composite filaments containing 3.2 wt.% CNF and processed at draw ratio of ≈6.3 exhibit enhanced tensile strength and modulus by more than three folds compared to the control PAN filament. Because of chemically compatible surface modification of the nanofibers, better dispersion and improved mechanical properties were accomplished in the reinforced PAN fibers. This should allow the production of CNF reinforced carbon fibers with improved tensile properties. An increase in CNF loading (6.4 wt.%), however, reduced performance due to inefficient alignment of CNF along the fiber axis. Nevertheless, hot stretching (at draw ratio ≈ 10) of the filaments enhanced tensile strength and elastic modulus of PAN composite filaments by 20–30% compared to the control hot stretched PAN filaments.",

author = "Nitilaksha Hiremath and Evora, {Maria Cecilia} and Naskar, {Amit K.} and Jimmy Mays and Gajanan Bhat",

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AU - Hiremath, Nitilaksha

AU - Evora, Maria Cecilia

AU - Naskar, Amit K.

AU - Mays, Jimmy

AU - Bhat, Gajanan

PY - 2017/12/1

Y1 - 2017/12/1

N2 - For the first time, uniform distribution of surface functionalized carbon nanofibers (CNFs) has been achieved in low molecular weight (≈120,000 g/mol) textile grade-polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based composite filaments. Surface grafting of CNFs with acrylonitrile enhances the dispersion of nanofibers in PAN fiber matrix. XPS study reveals high atomic nitrogen content (7%) on the CNF surface due to the grafting reaction. The solution-spun filaments have been characterized for distribution of CNFs in the PAN matrix by electron microscopy. PAN composite filaments containing 3.2 wt.% CNF and processed at draw ratio of ≈6.3 exhibit enhanced tensile strength and modulus by more than three folds compared to the control PAN filament. Because of chemically compatible surface modification of the nanofibers, better dispersion and improved mechanical properties were accomplished in the reinforced PAN fibers. This should allow the production of CNF reinforced carbon fibers with improved tensile properties. An increase in CNF loading (6.4 wt.%), however, reduced performance due to inefficient alignment of CNF along the fiber axis. Nevertheless, hot stretching (at draw ratio ≈ 10) of the filaments enhanced tensile strength and elastic modulus of PAN composite filaments by 20–30% compared to the control hot stretched PAN filaments.

AB - For the first time, uniform distribution of surface functionalized carbon nanofibers (CNFs) has been achieved in low molecular weight (≈120,000 g/mol) textile grade-polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based composite filaments. Surface grafting of CNFs with acrylonitrile enhances the dispersion of nanofibers in PAN fiber matrix. XPS study reveals high atomic nitrogen content (7%) on the CNF surface due to the grafting reaction. The solution-spun filaments have been characterized for distribution of CNFs in the PAN matrix by electron microscopy. PAN composite filaments containing 3.2 wt.% CNF and processed at draw ratio of ≈6.3 exhibit enhanced tensile strength and modulus by more than three folds compared to the control PAN filament. Because of chemically compatible surface modification of the nanofibers, better dispersion and improved mechanical properties were accomplished in the reinforced PAN fibers. This should allow the production of CNF reinforced carbon fibers with improved tensile properties. An increase in CNF loading (6.4 wt.%), however, reduced performance due to inefficient alignment of CNF along the fiber axis. Nevertheless, hot stretching (at draw ratio ≈ 10) of the filaments enhanced tensile strength and elastic modulus of PAN composite filaments by 20–30% compared to the control hot stretched PAN filaments.

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Polyacrylonitrile nanocomposite fibers from acrylonitrile-grafted carbon nanofibers

Abstract

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