Abstract

This paper examines the modification of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) homopolymer by a blending technique. The discussion on this modified PAN fiber involves the comparison a new concept of comonomer attachment compared to the conventional method. The PAN homopolymer and comonomers (i.e. itaconic acid (IA) and methylacrylate (MA)) were dissolved in dimethylformamide (DMF) at two different temperatures; 70°C (Type 1) and ambient temperature (Type 2). These fibers were fabricated using a simple the dry/wet spinning process before subjected to a stabilization process. FTIR result shows that the peaks (around 1600cm^-1) indicated that the comonomers in Type 1 fiber were attached to the PAN homopolymer backbone during the dope preparation step. However for Type 2 fibers, the comonomers were only attached to the PAN homopolymer backbone during the stabilization process. Type 1 fibers also have higher weight loss and faster stabilization compared to Type 2 fibers. Therefore, the blending process at heat temperature of 70ºC is claimed as the technique that can modify the PAN homopolymer and make the stabilization process of PAN fibers faster.

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