Formation of Carbon Fibres from Polymer Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Acetylene Black using Electrospinning Method

Carbon fibres are important materials due to their excellent properties. Carbon fibres were formed by blending Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and a high conductivity material of Acetylene black (AB). Electrospinning technique was used to fabricate PVA and AB solutions in demineralized water. Electrospinning is an efficient technique for the formation of polymer nanofibers. The effects of solution concentration and AB contents on morphological appearance and diameter of those as-spun fibres were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Iodine treatment on the fabricated PVA/AB composite was successfully achieved in order to build up the carbonization process and retained their original fibrous structure. The mass of iodinated nanofibers at 80 °C for 24 h increased about 130 %. The mechanism of iodine uptake by electrospun PVA/AB fibres have been obtained by thermal behaviour and its morphological characteristics. It was found that iodine treatment played an important role in changing the morphological structure during the carbonization process. With the iodine treatment of PVA/AB precursor fibres successfully converted into thin carbon fibres and SEM analysis confirmed that the diameter of fibres was about 290 nm. The resulted pure fibres and iodine treatments show guarantee for production carbon fibres.