There is a need in the aerospace industry to increase the strength and modulus of current carbon fiber. Carbon nanotubes offer a route to improve these properties, but as of yet they have not been properly utilized due to their graphitic, lubricant like properties. The first route is a grafting from method that attaches benzocyclobutene derivatives to the surface of the CNTs and converts these to initiators. Then polyacrlylonitrile is grown from the surface using ARGET ATRP. These grafted CNTs are dispersed at different loading levels in a PAN doped solution and spun. The second route to achieve the goal is to crosslink the CNT yarns and threads via a grafting-to method. Crosslinkers of different lengths with BCB groups have been synthesized and cycloaddition to CNT bundles has been performed. The first approach has been successful in attaching 60% (by weight) of PAN. This was verified using TGA-MS, TEM, and SEM. The second approach has shown 20% grafting of the polymer crosslinks to the CNT bundles. This was verified using TGA, TEM, and XPS. Both of these methods have accomplished their initial grafting goals. The next step is to mechanically test the carbonized fiber; then, reaction conditions will be optimized to determine proper grafting levels and molecular weights to increase the fiber’s strength and modulus.

Improved carbon nanotube fibers through crosslinking and surface modification

249th National Meeting (2015)

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