Novel polyimide-based electrospun carbon nanofibers prepared using ion-beam irradiation

This paper describes a novel study focused on preparing carbon nanofibers, with a narrow fiber diameter distribution, from a fluorinated polyimide using both electrospinning and ion-beam irradiation. We specifically focused on the effects of ion species and ion fluences on the electrical conductivity of the nanofiber. The nanofibers were successfully prepared in the diameter range from 340 nm to 1500 nm by varying the concentration of polyimide solution using electrospinning. The Raman spectrum of the ion-irradiated nanofiber included the two well-known D (1360 cm−1) and G (1580 cm−1) peaks, indicating that the nanofiber surface changed to a carbon-enriched material. The carbon nanofibers underwent a more ordered graphitic carbon structure with an increase in the ion fluence and the electrical conductivity of the nanofiber irradiated at 1 × 1016 ions/cm2 of Ar+ was 0.18 S/cm. In addition, the electrical conductivities of the ion-irradiated nanofibers increased in the order, He+ < Ne+ < Ar+, which indicated that the amount of nuclear energy in the ion species had the most influence on the electrical conductivity. However, the higher electrical conductivity of the carbon nanofibers is required to realize their industrial applications. This paper is the first to address the properties of the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanfibers prepared by electrospinning and ion irradiation as a new approach.