There has been a demand for low cost carbon fiber precursors from many high-volume segments such as the automotive or sports industries. Wood-based polymers are recently gaining attention because they has a potential to be a carbon fiber precursor. However, wood-based polymers requires pre-processes to be utilized as a carbon fiber precursor.<br/>An ionic liquid (IL), [DBNH]OAc, has two desirable characteristics to prepare carbon fiber precursors from the wood-based polymers. Firstly, this IL is an efficient solvent for cellulose. This superbase-based IL solvent maintains the high degree of polymerization of cellulose during the dissolution and spinning process and allows for a pronounced longitudinal polymer orientation during the spinning process. Therefore, cellulose fibers from this IL exhibit excellent mechanical properties. Secondly, the IL can dissolve not only cellulose but also lignin, hemicellulose and even other biopolymers. Thus, cellulose-based composite fibers are available from the IL by dry-jet wet spinning.<br/>In this study, we report the structures in these composite fibers. The fiber-pore structures of composite fibers were elucidated using small angle X-ray scattering and wide angle X-ray fiber diffraction (XRD). The orientation of the components were parameterized from 2D XRD and polarized micro Raman spectroscopy. In addition, micro Raman spectroscopy, bulk elemental analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were applied to resolve the skin-core structure present in a single composite fiber. Finally, the correlation between such structures and final carbon fiber products was discussed.  <br/>

Characterization of composite fibers from wood-based polymers: Investigation as a carbon fiber precursor

255th National Meeting (2018)

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