Stretching-induced orientation for improving the mechanical properties of electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofiber sheet

Partially aligned and oriented polyacrylonitrile(PAN)-based nanofibers were electrospun from PAN and CNTs/PAN in the solution of dimethylformamide(DMF) to manufacture the carbon nanofibers. The as-spun nanofibers were hot-stretched in a temperature controlled oven to enhance its crystallinity and molecular orientation. Therefore it were stabilized at 250 square under a stress, and carbonized at 1000 square in N-2 atmosphere by fixing the length of the stabilized nanofiber to convert them into carbon nanofibers. With the hot-stretched process and with the content of CNTs, the mechanical properties will be enhanced correspondingly. The crystallinity of the stretched fibers confirmed by X-ray diffraction has also increased. For PAN nanofibers, the improved fiber alignment and crystallinity resulted in the increased mechanical properties, such as the modulus and tensile strength of the nanofibers. It was concluded that the hot-stretched nanofiber and the CNTs/PAN nanofibers can be used as a potential precursor to produce high-performance carbon composites.