Studying the Processes of Polyacrylonitrile Structure Formation Using Mesoscale Modeling

Abstract

The key to the modification of the properties of carbon fibers is to understand how to control the structure of polyacrylonitrile-based precursors. Results of a mesoscale modeling of the structure formation processes in a mixture of polyacrylonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, and water (good and poor solvents for polymers) are reported. The system′s composition is chosen using the composition of precursor fibers at the later formation stages under coagulation bath conditions. All calculations are performed using the dynamic density functional theory. The proposed model considers effects caused by changes in the system composition, carbon nanotube filler, temperature, and shear flow. It is shown that the polymer structure can be significantly changed by varying the amount of water in the system (determined by the coagulation bath composition) and by introducing a carbon filler.