Study On Oxidation Process And Mechanism In Manufactruing Electro-Spun Sub Micron Polyacrylonitrile Carbon Fibers

Submicron polyacrylonitrile fibers were prepared by means of electrospinning. The pre-oxidation and carbonization process were studied. Pre-oxidation product of submicron polyacrylonitrile fibers and micron polyacrylonitrile(PAN) fibers were compared by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Element Analysis (EA) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Difference of the pre-oxidation mechanism between electrospun PAN fibers and common PAN fibers where studied. The DSC curve of electrospun fibers has two peaks. At the same temperature electrospun PAN fibers has a higher reaction rate of cyano group than common fibers. Electrospun fibers’aromatization index is lower than common fibers’at the low temperature phase of pre-oxidation, and it is higher at the high temperature phase. As the results show, the two peaks in electrospun fibers’DSC curve reflect the different temperature of cyclization in same molecule and in different molecules.In order to prevent fibers from sticking together, different ways of finishing were tried. We found that spraying is the best way. The effect of finish oil content on elongation of fibers was also studied.