SBIR Phase I: Low Density Carbon Fibers Based on Gel Spun Polyacrylonitrile/Carbon Nanotube

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在开发高拉伸强度和低密度的聚丙烯腈(PAN)/碳纳米管(CNT)基碳纤维。方法是使用一种新开发的凝胶纺技术。将对工艺条件进行优化，以获得大于7 Gpa的抗拉强度、大于450 Gpa的拉伸模数和低于1.2g/cm3的密度。目前，PAN基商用碳纤维的拉伸强度一般为5 Gpa，拉伸模数为300 Gpa，密度为1.8g/cm3。该项目的更广泛/商业影响将是生产比拉伸强度显著高于当前PAN基商用碳纤维而密度显著低于当前商业碳纤维的潜力。碳纤维目前被用于卫星、飞机机身、飞机机翼和托架结构、高性能汽车应用等高性能复合材料中，其中能源效率非常重要。该项目将导致纳米工程碳纤维，并减轻复合材料的重量，从而大幅节省能源消耗。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop high tensile strength and low density polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/carbon nanotube (CNT) based carbon fibers. The approach is to use a newly-developed gel spun technology. Process conditions will be optimized to obtain a tensile strength greater than 7 GPa, a tensile modulus greater than 450 GPa, and a density less than 1.2 g/cm3. Current PAN-based commercial carbon fibers typically exhibit a tensile strength of 5 GPa, a tensile modulus of 300 GPa and a density of 1.8 g/cm3. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to produce carbon fibers with significantly higher specific tensile strength and lower density than the current PAN-based commercial carbon fibers. The carbon fibers are currently used in high-performance composites for satellite, airplane fuselage, airplane wing and trust structures, high-performance automobile applications, etc, where energy efficiency is very important. This project will lead to nano-engineered carbon fibers and reduce the weight of composite materials, thus resulting in significant savings in energy consumption.