Flexible and Conducting Carbon Nanofibers Obtained from Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile/Phosphoric Acid Nanofibers

We report on the feasible synthesis of flexible and conductive carbon nanofibers by electrospinning process using polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and phosphoric acid (PA) as precursors. The carbon nanofibers were subsequently obtained by stabilization and carbonization of the electrospun PAN nanofibers. From SEM data, it was found that the electrospun PAN nanofibers showed a smooth surface and had an average diameter of approximately 200 nm. Afterwards, the electrospun PAN nanofibers were stabilized at 250 °C and heated at 900 °C for the carbonization process to obtain the carbon nanofibers. The carbonized PAN nanofibers exhibited a drastic improvement of electrical conduction. From Raman spectroscopy data, it was found that the carbonization at 900 °C gave a decrease of the intensity ratio of D and G peaks, indicating higher graphitic structure.