Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 13, Issue 22, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym13223938
Keywords
polyacrylonitrile; lignin; electrospinning; selective chemical dissolution; porous nanofibers; nanofibers; soft template
Categories
Funding
- Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia [FRGS/1/2019/STG01/UPM/02/7]
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In this study, lignin was used as a soft template to mix with PAN and produce porous nanofibers following selective chemical dissolution. The removal of lignin significantly increased the specific surface area of the PAN/lignin nanofibers, showing potential for the production of highly porous carbon nanofibers.
In this study, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was mixed with a renewable polymer, lignin, to produce electrospun nanofibers by using an electrospinning technique. Lignin was utilized as a soft template that was removed from the nanofibers by using a selective dissolution technique to create porous PAN nanofibers. These nanofibers were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) to study their properties and morphology. The results showed that lignin can be homogeneously mixed into the PAN solution and successfully electrospun into nanofibers. FESEM results showed a strong relationship between the PAN: lignin ratio and the diameter of the electrospun fibers. Lignin was successfully removed from electrospun nanofibers by a selective chemical dissolution technique, which resulted in roughness and porousness on the surface of the nanofibers. Based on the BET result, the specific surface area of the PAN/lignin nanofibers was more than doubled following the removal of lignin compared to PAN nanofibers. The highest specific surface area of nanofibers after selective chemical dissolution was found at an 8:2 ratio of PAN/lignin, which was 32.42 m(2)g(-1) with an average pore diameter of 5.02 nm. The diameter of electrospun nanofibers was also slightly reduced after selective chemical dissolution. Porous PAN nanofibers can be seen as the precursors to the production of highly porous carbon nanofibers.
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