Nanotailored Carbon Fibers

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite fibers will be spun using gel spinning technology in conjunction with bi-component spinning to obtain small diameter precursor fiber (2 - 6 micrometer). Single component spinning (multi-filaments) will also be conducted. The precursor fibers will have tensile strength >1 GPa and tensile modulus >25 GPa. By optimizing stabilization and carbonization conditions, high tensile strength carbon fiber will be obtained with various diameter. CNT incorporation can lead to the ordered graphitic structure around the CNT, which will improve the mechanical properties of resulting carbon fiber. These nano-tailored carbon fibers will have superior tensile and compressive properties as well as better electrical and thermal conductivity as compared to the conventional PAN-based carbon fiber. BENEFIT: We expect to process carbon fibers with a minimum tensile strength of 7 GPa and a minimum tensile modulus of 450 GPa. Compressive strength of these fibers is expected to be comparable to their tensile strength (7 GPa). These fibers are also expected to have higher electrical and thermal conductivity than commercial high strength PAN based carbon fibers. As compared to the current commercial carbon fiber, these high strength and high modulus carbon fibers should result in significant weight savings in various aerospace composite systems.