(557d) Preparation of Polyacrylonitrile and Polyacrylonitrile/Carbon Nanostructures 

Nanocomposite fibers made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN NFs), polyacrylonitrile containing carbon nanotubes (PAN/MWCNTs NFs) and graphene (PAN/G NFs) were fabricated by electrospinning. The polyacrylonitrile were dissolved in dimethylformamide (C3H7NO, DMF) and the carbon nanostructures were successfully dispersed into the PAN matrix. Polymeric solutions were fed through a capillary tip with the diameter of 0.7 mm using a 10 mL syringe. During electrospinning, the applied voltage was 20 kV, the distance between the tip and collector was 13 cm and the flow rate of the spinning solution was 0.5 mL/h. The electrospun fibers were collected on aluminum foil wrapped on a metal drum rotating at approximately 100 rpm and were dried in vacuum at 60 oC before further use. Scanning electron microscopy showed nanocomposite fibers with regular morphologies. Nonwoven mats of uniform fiber with smooth surface were obtained in the absence and presence of carbon nanostructures. As it is obvious, there are no beads in PAN and PAN/MWCNTs nanofibers which indicate a good dispersion of nanostructures in the fiber. It can be seen that the addition of MWCNTs in the polymeric solution caused the increasing of fiber diameter.