1. Effects of γ-Ray Irradiation on the Radial Structure Heterogeneity in Polyacrylonitrile Fibers during Thermal Stabilization.
- Author
-
Dang, Wei, Liu, Jie, Huang, Xiangyu, Liang, Jieying, Wang, Chunhua, Miao, Peng, An, Yongzhen, and Wang, Xiaoxu
- Subjects
- *
POLYACRYLONITRILES , *CARBON fibers , *IRRADIATION , *THERMAL stability , *CRYSTALLINITY , *CROSSLINKING (Polymerization) , *RING formation (Chemistry) - Abstract
The radial structural heterogeneity of thermally-stabilized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber is considered to be a limiting factor affecting the mechanical properties of the resulting carbon fibers. In this study, we demonstrate that a low-dose (60 kGy) γ-ray irradiation pretreatment can effectively mitigate the radial structural heterogeneity of PAN fibers after thermal stabilization. The characterization results indicate that low-dose γ-ray irradiation only affects the physical structure of PAN through decreasing its crystalline size and crystallinity, rather than inducing chemical cross-linking and/or intramolecular cyclization. It is proposed that an increased amorphous region in PAN fibers prompted by low-dose γ-ray irradiation can facilitate oxygen diffusion from skin to core during stabilization, which results in the increased structural homogeneity of stabilized PAN fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF