Addition of carbon nanotubes to electrospun polyacrylonitrile as a way to obtain carbon nanofibers with desired properties

Abstract Usage of CNTs as matrix modifiers during fabrication of CNFs from the electrospun polymer precursor is an interesting approach to obtain composite materials with a new set of properties. However, the progress in this field is hindered by the lack of consistency of the CNTs used in the studies and sometimes insufficient materials characterization. In this study, two types of CNTs were at first characterized to reveal their chemical composition and morphology (by TEM and XPS) and then used as matrix additives in the process of electrospinning. The outcome product was evaluated for morphology (SEM), chemical composition (XPS, FTIR), course of thermal transition (STA-FTIR) and level of structural arrangement (TEM combined with SAED) to answer the question how do CNTs interact with polymer matrix and how it impacts the process of thermal transition and properties of the as-received carbon nanofibers. Highly oxidized and short CNTs were found to increase the structural arrangement, catalyzing the thermal transition, while thin and long CNTs, with low amount of oxygen, entrap the nitrogen atoms, yielding nitrogen-doped CNFs that might be suggested as high-performance oxygen reduction reaction catalysts.