The carbonization of polyacrylonitrile-derived electrospun carbon nanofibers studied by in situ transmission electron microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Cathode structures derived from carbonized electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers are a current line of development for improvement of gas diffusion electrodes for metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Diameter, surface morphology, carbon structure and chemical composition of the carbon based fibers play a crucial role for the functionality of the resulting cathodes, especially with respect to oxygen adsorption properties, electrolyte wetting and electronic conductivity. These functionalities of the carbon fibers are strongly influenced by the carbonization process. Hitherto, fibers were mostly characterized by ex situ methods, which require great effort for statistical analysis in the case of microscopy. Here, we show the morphological and structural evolution of nanofibers d

SUBMITTER: Schierholz R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9060947 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature