CHARACTERIZATION OF OXYGEN DISTRIBUTION IN THE CROSS SECTION OF POLYACRYLONITRILE OXIDIZED FIBERS WITH SCANNING TRANSMISSION X-RAY MICROSCOPY

Abstract

The distribution of oxygen element in the cross section of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor fibers and oxidized fibers has been investigated by using a scanning transmission X-ray microscope (STXM) with a spatial resolution of 30 nm,combined with dual-energy contrast imaging method. By using the optical density ratio of the corresponding pixels in the two STXM images, the STXM experimental results indicated that the oxygen is homogeneously distributed in the pristine PAN fibers. During stabilization process, two important reactions occur and change the chemistry of PAN structure. In the skin section of PAN fiber,oxidation converts it into a conjugated and hetero-aromatic structure in the presence of oxygen. While in the core section of PAN fiber,cyclization turns linear PAN into a six-member ring structure due to the absence of oxygen. After treatment, an increase in the oxygen concentration in the skin of the PAN fibers is clearly observed while it remains constant in the core of PAN fibers, clearly demonstrating the diffusion process in the treatment. The propagating velocity of oxygen along the radical direction is about 0.033 mu m/min. This research shows that the STXM is a powerful technique to characterize the internal microstructure of the PAN pre-oxidized fibers, and therefore will help to rationally understand the evaluation mechanism of the skin-core structure.