Preparation and Characterization of Carbon Nanofibers via Electrospun PAN Nanofibers

The paper reports the fabrication and characterization of polyacrylonitril (PAN) nanofibers by electrospinning and further development of the as-spun PAN nanofibers into carbon nanofibers. PAN nanofibers as a precursor of carbon nanofibers with diameters in the range of 100–350 nm were prepared by electrospinning of PAN/DMF solution. The aligned electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers first stabilized in air at temperature 290°C for 1 hr. We also investigated several carbonization procedures by varying final carbonization temperatures in the range from 800-1000?C in nitrogen and argon atmospheres and the carbon nanofibers were successfully obtained at 800 ?C and 1 hr. Morphologies, structures and thermal properties of PAN, stabilized and carbonized nanofibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectrometer (IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results obtained from scanning electron microscopy showed that the nanofibers are unidirectional aligned and after stabilization and carbonization the SEM results revealed that the average diameter of the stabilized PAN nanofibers appeared to be almost the same as that of the as-electrospun nanofibers, while the average diameters of the carbonized PAN nanofibers were significantly reduced, and also scanning electron microscopy without any gold coating.