Mechanical Properties and the Characterization of Polyacrylonitrile/Carbon Nanotube Composite Nanofiber

Abstract

This work describes the fabrication of the composite nanofibers containing polyacrylonitrile polymer (PAN) and different weight percentage of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using electrospinning technique which is simplest and highly versatile method to enhance the mechanical properties by removing the surface defects of the composite nanofibers. The tensile test, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements are used to find the mechanical properties and the characterization of PAN/CNT composite nanofibers. The result demonstrated that adding CNTs to the polymer enhances the mechanical properties like tensile strengths and Young’s modulus with an average 55 and 60 %, respectively at only 0.1 wt% of CNTs.