Fabrication of Electrospun Carbon Nanocomposite Fibers from PAN and PAA Blended Solutions

Carbon fibers have been prepared from a wide variety of precursors ranging from natural materials to synthetic polymer fibers, the primary requirement being for a material that not melt on pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere. Among them, poly-acrylonitrile (PAN) is one of the most widely used precursor materials in carbon fiber industry. The major differences among the thermoplastic and thermosetting polymer-based fibers lie in the carbon yield upon pyrolysis of the particular precursor [1] and the preparation steps of pyrolysis such as stabilization and carbonization. In general, PAN-based carbon fibers have a low carbonization yield compared to aromatic-based precursors, such as phenol, polybenzimidal, polyimide, pitch etc. and so on. The thermosetting properties of aromatic polyimide (PI)-based fiber can be easily transformed into carbon during heat