We have developed an approach to fabricate polymer-carbon structures using polyacrylonitrile-based (PAN) carbon precursors via 3-D printing. Specifically, we have synthesized the precursors and established relationships between their characteristics and the ability to fabricate carbon 3-D structures via Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). For this purpose, acrylonitrile, butyl acrylate, and polydimethylsiloxane monomers were used to synthesize copolymers using radical polymerization. The polyacrylonitrile precursors were characterized via H-NMR, FTIR, DSC, and DMA techniques. The melt viscosity of the PAN copolymers was investigated as a function of composition and molecular weight. The copolymer morphology was studied using AFM and SEM. Stabilization and carbonization processes for obtaining the polymer-carbon structures were conducted. In summary, our research demonstrated the fabrication of carbon structures from acrylonitrile-based polymers via 3-D FFF printing, which can be further used to manufacture complex epoxy-carbon composites.

Polyacrylonitrile copolymers for fabrication of carbon-based composites via 3D FFF printing

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