Composites of carbon black (CB) and polymers are attractive for producing conductive fibers. Herein, to achieve improved interactions with polymers, the surface of CB was modified to form 4-aminobenzoyl-functionalized carbon black (ABCB), benzoxazine-functionalized carbon black (BZCB), and Ag-anchored carbon black (Ag-ABCB). The surface-modified CBs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was utilized to confirm the presence of Ag in Ag-ABCB. Conductive polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers were wet-spun with conductive fillers (CB, ABCB, Ag-ABCB, and BZCB) to investigate the effects of various functional groups on the electrical and mechanical properties. After annealing the conductive PAN fibers, the conductivity and tensile strength greatly increased, whereas the diameter decreased. Notably, the fiber with a BZCB/PAN weight ratio of 12/88 possessed a conductivity of 8.9 × 10-4 S/cm, and strength of 110.4 MPa, and thus the highest conductivity and best mechanical properties in the conductive PAN fiber. These results indicate that the annealed BZCB/PAN fibers have potential applications in the manufacturing of antistatic fabrics.
Keywords: carbon black; conductive fiber; polyacrylonitrile; tensile strength; wet spinning.