Fabrication of polyacrylonitrile/ acrylamide (PAN/ AM) fibers using a solvent-free coagulation bath

Polyacrylonitrile/ Acrylamide (PAN/ AM) fibers have been produced by a simple dry-jet wet spinning process. It has been successfully carried out in the solvent-free coagulation bath. The fabrication process is focusing on controlling the formation of PAN/ AM fibers with desirable characteristics. This new approach was considered due to environmental impact of solvent usage. The production of PAN/ Am fibers consists of three main components including polyacrylonitrile (PAN), Acrylamide (AM) and dimethylformamide (DMF). Aforementioned components must be blended at a specific ratio in order to produce a homogenous polymer solution. Three polymer compositions were prepared for the PAN/ AM fibers fabrication: 16, 18 and 20 wt.%. The results showed that a semi-dilute solution (18 wt.%) was found to be the most suitable polymer composition for PAN/ AM fiber fabrication at room temperature. The PAN/ AM fibers produced at 13 degree Celsius coagulation bath temperature and residence time of 3 sec exhibited Young's modulus of 2.55 GPa which represents the highest Young modulus achieved.(author)