Abstract
High temperature is required in carbon fiber synthesis in the carbonization step. However, direct high-temperature heating without the presence of additive materials would affect the yield and structure of carbon fibers produced. Thus, this study aims to synthesize carbon fibers from poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA), as the precursor and reducing agent, using silver nanoparticles (SNP) from silver nitrate (AgNO3) as additives. The pre-treatment of PVA was performed in three steps, i.e., mixing PVA/AgNO3, electrospinning, and iodination. The interaction of PVA and AgNO3 was assessed by FTIR, and SEM was used to characterize the electro-spun fibers prior and after iodination; Raman spectrophotometer was carried out to confirm the yield of carbon fibers. There was reduction in oxygen groups (3000–3800 cm−1) and emergence of –C=O (1100 cm−1) and –C=C– (1627 cm−1) functional groups, indicating formation of carbon layers. Based on the DT/GA results, the silver nanoparticles reduce the need of high temperature with optimum carbonization at 350 °C and lead to the formation of more regular graphene layers. Graphene layers with a size distribution of 0.438 nm and well-organized structures were successfully formed, and the Raman shifting showed higher intensities of G and G’ bands in the presence of Ag. Based on DT/GA results, the yield of carbon fibers with iodinated PVA fibers and SNP as additive had higher rates around 800 µg/min, reaching 33% at 500 °C. Thus, it is demonstrated that iodinated PVA/AgNO3 samples can significantly improve carbon fiber yield at low temperatures.
Highlights
The introduction of carbon nanofibers (CNF) as a reinforcement in composite materials in engineering applications, supercapacitors, high-temperature fillers and catalysts [1,2,3] are attractive due to their high mechanical properties
Within chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the growth that is initiated from gaseous hydrocarbon compounds as precursors requires high temperatures around 700–1500 K [1]
As the addition of AgNO3 crystal had no effects on the dissolution process, the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/AgNO3 mixture was prepared by using the same procedure
Summary
The introduction of carbon nanofibers (CNF) as a reinforcement in composite materials in engineering applications (e.g., aerospace and automotive industries), supercapacitors, high-temperature fillers and catalysts [1,2,3] are attractive due to their high mechanical properties. Polymers with long hydrocarbon chains are commonly used as precursors in carbon fiber synthesis. Up to 54.5%, for polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), this polymer is considered appropriate as a precursor, and, it has high solubility in water, it is non-toxic, and acts as a reduction agent [12,13,14]. These characteristics make the synthesis of carbon fibers more numerous, and decrease the processing cost. The thermal carbonization above 400 ◦C of PVA may result in lower yield of CNF, and an alternative pre-preparation method is needed to overcome this issue
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