ABSTRACT
Abstract .................................................................................................................360 16.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................360 16.2 Carbon Fibers ...........................................................................................362 16.3 Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) ...........................................................................364 16.4 Activated Carbon Fibers ..........................................................................366 16.5 Activated Carbon .....................................................................................369 16.6 Carbon Nanostructures ............................................................................370 16.7 Polyacrylonitrile Based Carbon Nanofibers ............................................373 16.8 Electrospinning Methodology .................................................................375 16.9 Electrospinning of PAN Solution ............................................................377 16.10 Stabilization .............................................................................................380 16.11 Carbonization ...........................................................................................380 16.12 Comparison of Stabilization and Carbonization ......................................383 16.13 FT-IR Study of PAN and Stabilized PAN Fiber .......................................384 16.14 CNF from Other Type of Precursors ........................................................385 16.15 Activation ................................................................................................386 16.16 Applications .............................................................................................392 16.17 Summary and Outlook .............................................................................409 Keywords ..............................................................................................................410 References .............................................................................................................410
Carbon nanofibers (sometimes known as carbon nanofilaments or CNF) can be produced in a relative large scale by electrospinning of Polyacrylonitrile solution in dimethyl formaldehyde, stabilization and carbonization process. The porosity, pore volume and surface area of carbon nanofiber enhanced during the chemical or physical activation. This chapter is a review of electrospinning method of CNF production and heat pretreatments and activations process to make activated carbon nanofiber. Attention is also given to some of the possible applications of this nanostructures which center around the unique blend of properties exhibited by the material, which include: hydrogen adsorption properties, energy storage media, catalyst support, and regenerative medicine.
