Synthesis of polyacrylonitrile as precursor for high-performance ultrafine fibrids

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) copolymers with different methyl acrylate (MA) contents were synthesized via solution polymerization and used as precursors for high-performance PAN ultrafine fibrids. The chemical structures of the copolymers were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Their particle sizes and aspect ratios increased with increasing viscosity, and the degree of crystallinity increased with decreasing concentration of copolymer solution. In contrast, their peak temperature and heat of exotherm increased with decreasing concentration of the copolymer solution. The aromatization indices (AIs) of the fibrids increased with increasing heat-treatment time; however, the AIs decreased when the heat-treatment temperature was higher than the onset temperature of the copolymers. On the other hand, the crystal sizes of the fibrids decreased with increasing concentration of the copolymer solution when the MA content was held constant.