Coal/polyacrylonitrile blend fibers toward low-cost carbon fibers via dry-jet wet spinning process

The demand for low-cost carbon fiber applications with in the automotive industry is growing rapidly. Utilizing acid-treated coal and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as alternative precursors may provide a viable pathway to prepare carbon fibers with low-cost and general-performance. In this study, the acid-treated coal and PAN powder were mixed and dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent to prepare the coal-containing spinning solution. The continuous dry-jet wet spinning of the coal/PAN blend precursor fibers was successfully achieved. Following systematical optimization of spinning, stabilization, and carbonization process, the resultant coal/PAN based carbon fibers exhibited the highest tensile strength of 1271 MPa and the electrical conductivity 62398 S m⁻¹. Overall, this work provides a novel approach to developing low-cost carbon fibers from the raw coal via dry-jet wet spinning technology.