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High molecular weight of poly(acrylonitrile-co-3-aminocarbonyl-3-butenoic acid methyl ester) used as carbon fiber precursor: preparation and stabilization

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Abstract

A bifunctional 3-aminocarbonyl-3-butenoic acid methyl ester (ABM) was used to prepare high molecular weight poly(acrylonitrile-co-3-aminocarbonyl-3-butenoic acid methyl ester) [P(AN-co-ABM)] by suspension polymerization in aqueous medium. The influence of ABM monomer feed ratios on the structure and stabilization of P(AN-co-ABM) was characterized by element analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Based on reactivity ratio calculation, the comonomer ABM possesses greater reactivity than acrylonitrile. The molecular weight of P(AN-co-ABM) in this work is 10 times larger, as compared to the one prepared by solution polymerization; it is the key to producing high-performance carbon fiber. The FTIR, XRD and DSC results illustrate that the stabilization of P(AN-co-ABM) is significantly improved as compared with PAN homopolymer and P(AN-AA-MA), for instance, lower initiation temperature, smaller cyclization activation energy (Ea), broadened exothermic peak and larger stabilization extent, due to the ionic cyclization initiated by ABM, which makes the resultant P(AN-co-ABM) a potential precursor for carbon fiber.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support of this work from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51503086), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20140159), State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials (17M1060121), The Open Project Program of Key Laboratory of Eco-textiles, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University (KLET1406) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 17D110620) was gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering and State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Anqi Ju, Huifang Chen, Shengfei Hou, Ling Liu & Xuepeng Ni

  2. Key Laboratory of Eco-textiles, Ministry of Education and College of Textile and Clothing, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Mengjuan Li

  3. The Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Materials and Textile, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Houyong Yu

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  1. Anqi Ju
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Ju, A., Chen, H., Hou, S. et al. High molecular weight of poly(acrylonitrile-co-3-aminocarbonyl-3-butenoic acid methyl ester) used as carbon fiber precursor: preparation and stabilization. J Therm Anal Calorim 140, 2687–2699 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09434-z

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