Flexible and refractory tantalum carbide-carbon electrospun nanofibers with high modulus and electric conductivity

Abstract Tantalum carbide has been widely used as an excellent refractory material. However, there are no reports regarding the continuous tantalum carbide-carbon nanofibers (TaC/CNFs) and their mechanical and electrical properties. In this work, TaC/CNFs were prepared by electrospinning. The morphology and structures of the nanofibers and the distribution of TaC in the nanofibers were investigated by SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD, XPS and Raman spectroscopy. The TaC/CNFs showed excellent thermal stability, mechanical flexibility and conductivity even after folding for 180 cycles. These flexible, refractory and conductive TaC/CNFs could be found potential applications for flexible electronic devices and refractory materials.