Wet spinning of carbon fiber precursors from cellulose-lignin blends in a cold NaOH(aq) solvent system
2022 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Carbon fiber (CF) is predominantly produced from fossil-based sources and is therefore an area of interest for further development towards a more sustainable society. The purpose of this thesis work was to investigate the possibility of producing precursor fibers (PFs) for CF production from a blend of renewable cellulose andlignin. Cellulose, which is used to some extent for CF production, was chosen, while the possibility of adding lignin was investigated in hope of increasing the gravimetric yield of the CF production. Blends of softwood kraft cellulose pulp (SKP) and softwood kraft lignin (SKL) were dissolved in an alkaline (NaOH) solvent system at different cellulose/lignin ratios. A total of eight dopes were prepared (SKP/SKL ratios of 100/0–60/40 wt./wt.) with total dope concentrations ranging from 4.5 wt.% to 9.2 wt.%. The addition of SKL resulted in dark colored dopes with viscosities of which mainly appeared to depend on the SKP concentration. The dopes were wet spun, resulting in continuously spun PFs. The PFs showed on an increasing pyrolysis yield with increased SKL content but decreasing mechanical properties. However, process optimization was not included in the work, subsequently leading to the assumption that greater values on mechanical properties can be achieved. A pure SKP PF and a SKP-SKL (70/30 wt./wt.) PF were successfully thermally converted into CFs by carbonization at 1000 °C. The PF containing SKL had a total gravimetric yield more than twice as high as the pure SKP PF, 28 wt.% and 12 wt.%, respectively. Thereby, the addition of SKL seems to have a positive impact on the CF yield when utilizing a NaOH(aq) solvent system. This thesis work has become a base for the future work towards the development of CFs from wet spun cellulose-lignin PFs in the NaOH(aq) solvent system.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022. , p. 44
Keywords [en]
Carbon fiber, cellulose, cold NaOH(aq), lignin, precursor, sodium hydroxide, solution spinning, wet spinning
National Category
Materials Chemistry Polymer Chemistry Organic Chemistry Analytical Chemistry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-117798OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-117798DiVA, id: diva2:1717213
External cooperation
RISE Innventia AB
Educational program
Sustainable Energy Processes and Systems, master programme, 120 credits
Supervisors
Examiners
2022-12-142022-12-072022-12-14Bibliographically approved