Carbon Fibers from Wet-Spun Cellulose-Lignin Precursors Using the Cold Alkali ProcessShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Fibers, ISSN 2079-6439, Vol. 10, no 12, article id 108Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
In recent years, there has been extensive research into the development of cheaper and more sustainable carbon fiber (CF) precursors, and air-gap-spun cellulose-lignin precursors have gained considerable attention where ionic liquids have been used for the co-dissolution of cellulose and lignin. However, ionic liquids are expensive and difficult to recycle. In the present work, an aqueous solvent system, cold alkali, was used to prepare cellulose-lignin CF precursors by wet spinning solutions containing co-dissolved dissolving-grade kraft pulp and softwood kraft lignin. Precursors containing up to 30 wt% lignin were successfully spun using two different coagulation bath compositions, where one of them introduced a flame retardant into the precursor to increase the CF conversion yield. The precursors were converted to CFs via batchwise and continuous conversion. The precursor and conversion conditions had a significant effect on the conversion yield (12–44 wt%), the Young’s modulus (33–77 GPa), and the tensile strength (0.48–1.17 GPa), while the precursor morphology was preserved. Structural characterization of the precursors and CFs showed that a more oriented and crystalline precursor gave a more ordered CF structure with higher tensile properties. The continuous conversion trials highlighted the importance of tension control to increase the mechanical properties of the CFs. © 2022 by the authors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI , 2022. Vol. 10, no 12, article id 108
Keywords [en]
bio-based, carbon fiber, cellulose, cold alkali, lignin
National Category
Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-62581DOI: 10.3390/fib10120108Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85144640702OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-62581DiVA, id: diva2:1729408
Note
Funding details: 2018-06378; Funding details: Chalmers Tekniska Högskola; Funding text 1: The authors express their gratitude to Treesearch and Anita Teleman (RISE AB) as well as to Nataliia Mozhzhukhina (Chalmers University of Technology) for providing support with the WAXS and Raman analyzes, respectively. Shun Yu acknowledges the Swedish Research Council VR (grant No. 2018-06378) for financial support.; Funding text 2: The authors express their gratitude to Treesearch and Anita Teleman (RISE AB) as well as to Nataliia Mozhzhukhina (Chalmers University of Technology) for providing support with the WAXS and Raman analyzes, respectively. Shun Yu acknowledges the Swedish Research Council VR (grant No. 2018-06378) for financial support.
2023-01-202023-01-202023-06-08Bibliographically approved