Rheological behavior and fiber spinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/Carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersions at high CNT loading. (12th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lu, Mingxuan; Liao, Jianshan; Gulgunje, Prabhakar V.; Chang, Huibin; Arias-Monje, Pedro J.; Ramachandran, Jyotsna; Breedveld, Victor; Kumar, Satish
• Is Part Of: Polymer. Volume 215(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-02-12
• Subjects: Carbon nanotube -- Polymer composites -- Rheological behavior -- Fiber spinning; Polymers -- Periodicals; Polymerization -- Periodicals; Polymères -- Périodiques; Polymérisation -- Périodiques; 547.7
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2020.123369
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0032-3861

Abstract

Abstract: Rheological studies play an important role in polymer processing including fiber spinning. In the current work, rheological behavior has been studied for polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersions in dimethyl formamide (DMF), where CNT loading is as high as 15 wt% of the total solids (polymer + CNT). The presence of CNTs increased the elastic-like and shear thinning behavior of the dispersions. The terminal slope of the log G ′ versus log G ″ curve, which was used to characterize the homogeneity of solution or dispersion, is dependent on the CNT concentration but independent of temperature between 0 and 60 °C. PAN/CNT-10 (90 wt% PAN +10 wt% CNT) and PAN/CNT-15 were gel spun at different conditions, with small diameter capillary at high shear rate and large diameter capillary at relatively low shear rate. For PAN/CNT-10, fiber spinning with lower molecular weight polymer showed increased continuous jetting time when compared to spinning with higher molecular weight polymer. In addition, the rheological behavior of PAN/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) dispersion with 20–60 wt% CNC was also compared to that of the PAN/CNT dispersions. PAN/CNC and PAN/CNT share similarities in both rheological behavior and fiber spinning at high filler loading. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: Rheological behavior of PAN/CNT was studied with up to 15 wt% CNT. The log G′ versus log G″ and tan δ curves were used to guide fiber spinning of PAN/CNT dispersions. PAN/CNC and PAN/CNT share similarities in both rheological behavior and fiber spinning at high filler loading.