Pregelled gel spinning of polyacrylonitrile precursor fiber

A new spinning method - pregelled gel spinning method for polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor fiber was reported. The physical and structural properties of the pregelled gel spun PAN precursor fibers as well as dry-jet wet spun PAN precursor fibers were studied. Compared with the dry-jet wet spun fibers, the pregelled gel spun fibers had reduced core-shell difference, circular cross sections and fewer internal pores. The pregelled gel spun fibers were found to have higher crystallinity and larger crystallite size than the dry-jet wet spun fibers. The tensile stress relaxation tests suggested that the pregelled gel spun fibers had higher elasticity and better developed supermolecular structure. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.