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Synergistic improvement of structural evolution during pre-oxidation of polyacrylonitrile fibers by adding an oxidant and microwave heat treatment

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Abstract

The structural changes of potassium permanganate-oxidized polyacrylonitrile-based fibers during microwave heat treatment were studied. The dielectric properties, bulk density, chemical structure, surface chemical composition, crystal structure and surface morphology of the fibers were characterized by respective methods: resonant cavity perturbation method, sink-float method, FTIR, XPS, XRD and SEM. The results showed that Mn-PFs have excellent dielectric properties and maintained this property during the thermal stabilization process, indicating that Mn-PFs respond well toward microwaves throughout the thermal stabilization process. The bulk density of Mn-MSFs obtained by microwave stabilization was 0.04 g/cm3 higher than that of microwave-stabilized fibers (MSFs). Compared with MSFs5, the stability of Mn-MSFs5 is improved by 10%, and the surface oxygen content and O-containing functional groups are improved. The (002) crystal plane diffraction peak of Mn-MSFs5 is higher than that of MSFs5. Moreover, after stabilization, Mn element does not exist on the fiber surface and does not affect the structure of the stabilized fiber. The fineness of Mn-MSFs5 is 1.07 dtex, tensile strength is 1.52 cN/dtex, tensile modulus is 59.3 cN/dtex and elongation-at-break is 13.5%. In addition, a structural transformation of the thermal stabilization process is proposed, that is, the cyclization reaction first occurs, and then the dehydrogenation and oxidation reactions are performed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects (NO. 202101AT070093) and the construction of high-level talents of Kunming University of Science and Technology (No. 1411909413), Construction of high-level talents of Kunming University of Science and Technology [Grant Number KKKP201763019]; Study on the effect of high-energy particles on the properties of SCF35 carbon fiber [Grant Number 219025-2]; and Yunnan Science and Technology Major Project [Grant Number 2018ZE008, 2018ZE027]; and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) (Grant No. GFs21-L3-009); and Kunming University of Science and Technology Analysis and Testing Fund (NO.2020M20192102047).

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Author notes

  1. Jiabin Zeng and Cheng Zhang contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Jiabin Zeng, Cheng Zhang, Jianhua Liu, Guozhen Zhao & Shenghui Guo

  2. State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Jiabin Zeng, Cheng Zhang, Jianhua Liu, Guozhen Zhao & Shenghui Guo

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  1. Jiabin Zeng
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  2. Cheng Zhang
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  3. Jianhua Liu
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Correspondence to Jianhua Liu or Guozhen Zhao.

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Zeng, J., Zhang, C., Liu, J. et al. Synergistic improvement of structural evolution during pre-oxidation of polyacrylonitrile fibers by adding an oxidant and microwave heat treatment. Iran Polym J 32, 213–223 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-022-01125-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-022-01125-w

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