Preparation of ultrafine polyacrylonitrile nanofibers via composite electrospinning

In order to obtain polyacrylonitrile(PAN) nanofibers with smaller diameter than those obtained by conventional electrospinning method, the polyacrylonitrile/cellulose acetate butyrate(PAN/CAB) composite nanofibers were prepared by composite electrospinning followed by removing CAB to obtain the final ultrafine PAN nanofibers, and then modified by amine compounds for adsorption of Direct Red 23 (DR23). The influences of the blend ratio of PAN and CAB(PAN/CAB), the concentration of spinning solution and the spinning jet velocity on the diameters of PAN nanofibers were discussed. The results show that the average diameters of the PAN nanofibers prepared by this method range from 50 to 80 nm, and the smallest average diameter is 50 nm when the mass ratio of PAN/CAB is 15∶85, concentration of spinning solution is 15%, spinning jet velocity is 1.5 mL/h, spinning voltage is 10 kV, and the receiving distance is 20 cm. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of ultrafine PAN nanofibers after modification is 833 mg/g. Copyright No content may be reproduced or abridged without authorization.