The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor
Carbon fibers (CF) and their composites (CC) are one of the world’s most promising and avant-garde high-performance materials, as they combine excellent mechanical characteristics with high weight reduction potential. Polyethylene (PE) is the perfect alternative precursor for CF as it combines wides...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Fibers |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6439/11/9/75 |
| _version_ | 1797580180800143360 |
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| author | Flávio A. Marter Diniz Tim Röding Mohamed Bouhrara Thomas Gries |
| author_facet | Flávio A. Marter Diniz Tim Röding Mohamed Bouhrara Thomas Gries |
| author_sort | Flávio A. Marter Diniz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Carbon fibers (CF) and their composites (CC) are one of the world’s most promising and avant-garde high-performance materials, as they combine excellent mechanical characteristics with high weight reduction potential. Polyethylene (PE) is the perfect alternative precursor for CF as it combines widespread availability, low cost, high carbon content, and, most importantly, precursor fibers that can be produced via melt-spinning. PE-based CF production involves a challenging and time-consuming diffusion-limited chemical stabilization step. The work presented in this article tackles the challenge of reducing the chemical stabilization process time by converting a bicomponent island-in-the-sea fiber, consisting of PA6 as sea matrix and HDPE as island material, into an ultra-thin PE-precursor fiber. The produced precursor fiber is then successfully converted into an ultra-thin PE-based CF through sulfonation and subsequent carbonization in a continuous set-up. The resulting CF has a smooth surface with no observable surface defects and a filament diameter of around 3 µm. The successful conversion to ultra-thin CF is shown in both batch and continuous processes. Additionally, a reduction in sulfonation reaction time from 4 h to 3 h is achieved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:46:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3c241290f6a48f0b61d4b344a247631 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:46:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fibers |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3c241290f6a48f0b61d4b344a2476312023-11-19T10:39:37ZengMDPI AGFibers2079-64392023-09-011197510.3390/fib11090075The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) PrecursorFlávio A. Marter Diniz0Tim Röding1Mohamed Bouhrara2Thomas Gries3Institut für Textiltechnik, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, GermanyInstitut für Textiltechnik, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, GermanyNon-Metallic Research Center (NRC), Aramco Overseas Company, Rueil-Malmaison, 92852 Paris, FranceInstitut für Textiltechnik, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, GermanyCarbon fibers (CF) and their composites (CC) are one of the world’s most promising and avant-garde high-performance materials, as they combine excellent mechanical characteristics with high weight reduction potential. Polyethylene (PE) is the perfect alternative precursor for CF as it combines widespread availability, low cost, high carbon content, and, most importantly, precursor fibers that can be produced via melt-spinning. PE-based CF production involves a challenging and time-consuming diffusion-limited chemical stabilization step. The work presented in this article tackles the challenge of reducing the chemical stabilization process time by converting a bicomponent island-in-the-sea fiber, consisting of PA6 as sea matrix and HDPE as island material, into an ultra-thin PE-precursor fiber. The produced precursor fiber is then successfully converted into an ultra-thin PE-based CF through sulfonation and subsequent carbonization in a continuous set-up. The resulting CF has a smooth surface with no observable surface defects and a filament diameter of around 3 µm. The successful conversion to ultra-thin CF is shown in both batch and continuous processes. Additionally, a reduction in sulfonation reaction time from 4 h to 3 h is achieved.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6439/11/9/75polyethylene-based precursorbicomponent precursorultra-thin carbon fibers |
| spellingShingle | Flávio A. Marter Diniz Tim Röding Mohamed Bouhrara Thomas Gries The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor Fibers polyethylene-based precursor bicomponent precursor ultra-thin carbon fibers |
| title | The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor |
| title_full | The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor |
| title_fullStr | The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor |
| title_short | The Production of Ultra-Thin Polyethylene-Based Carbon Fibers out of an “Islands-in-the-Sea” (INS) Precursor |
| title_sort | production of ultra thin polyethylene based carbon fibers out of an islands in the sea ins precursor |
| topic | polyethylene-based precursor bicomponent precursor ultra-thin carbon fibers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6439/11/9/75 |
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