Electrospun Composites Made of Reduced Graphene Oxide and Polyacrylonitrile-Based Activated Carbon Nanofibers (rGO/ACNF) for Enhanced CO2 Adsorption

Abstract

In this work, we report the preparation of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based activated carbon nanofibers composited with different concentrations of reduced graphene oxide (rGO/ACNF) (1%, 5%, and 10% relative to PAN weight) by a simple electrospinning method. The electrospun nanofibers (NFs) were carbonized and physically activated to obtain activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs). Texture, surface and elemental properties of the pristine ACNFs and composites were characterized using various techniques. In comparison to pristine ACNF, the incorporation of rGO led to changes in surface and textural characteristics such as specific surface area (SBET), total pore volume (Vtotal), and micropore volume (Vmicro) of 373 m2/g, 0.22 cm3/g, and 0.15 cm3/g, respectively, which is much higher than the pristine ACNFs (e.g., SBET = 139 m2/g). The structural and morphological properties of the pristine ACNFs and their composites were studied by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) respectively. Carbon dioxide (CO2) adsorption on the pristine ACNFs and rGO/ACNF composites was evaluated at different pressures (5, 10, and 15 bars) based on static volumetric adsorption. At 15 bar, the composite with 10% of rGO (rGO/ACNF0.1) that had the highest SBET, Vtotal, and Vmicro, as confirmed with BET model, exhibited the highest CO2 uptake of 58 mmol/g. These results point out that both surface and texture have a strong influence on the performance of CO2 adsorption. Interestingly, at p < 10 bar, the adsorption process of CO2 was found to be quite well fitted by pseudo-second order model (i.e., the chemisorption), whilst at 15 bar, physisorption prevailed, which was explained by the pseudo-first order model.

Graphene Oxide-Magnetic Nanoparticles Loaded Polystyrene-Polydopamine Electrospun Nanofibers Based Nanocomposites for Immunosensing Application of C-Reactive Protein

“…Graphene is a two-dimensional (2D) carbon inexpensive nanomaterial with a single-layer structure [ 14 ]. Graphene normally has two degrees of oxidation: GO and reduced graphene oxide (rGO).…”

Dielectric Properties and Flexibility of Polyacrylonitrile/Graphene Oxide Composite Nanofibers

“…The peak of moderate intensity at 1716 cm –1 indicated the C=O stretching of carboxylic acid. 61 − 63 The peak at 1579 cm –1 is a symmetrical C=C stretching vibration of the aromatic group, and the peak at 1103 cm –1 can be attributed to the C–C asymmetric stretching vibration of the aromatic group. 61 , 64 In addition, the two shoulder peaks at 2848 and 2927 cm –1 corresponded to the C–H aromatic sp 2 strain vibrations.…”

“…The emergence of the carbon peak was in line with the EDX analysis. The peak of moderate intensity at 1716 cm –1 indicated the CO stretching of carboxylic acid. − The peak at 1579 cm –1 is a symmetrical CC stretching vibration of the aromatic group, and the peak at 1103 cm –1 can be attributed to the C–C asymmetric stretching vibration of the aromatic group. , In addition, the two shoulder peaks at 2848 and 2927 cm –1 corresponded to the C–H aromatic sp strain vibrations. , In the FTIR GO spectrum, the hydroxyl and carboxyl peaks have indicated oxidation. , The insertion of functional oxygen-carrying groups in the GO form exhibited that the acidic and oxidative compounds successfully modified the surface, and this is in line with the SEM and TEM results.…”

Electrospun Functional Nanofiber Membrane for Antibiotic Removal in Water: Review

“…Figure 7 simply summarizes the top view structure of the spinnerets. Fibers with complex nanostructures can be prepared through multifluid electrospinning and can be used in different fields, such as drug release [ 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 ], tissue engineering [ 100 ], lithium battery energy storage [ 101 , 102 ], antibacterial [ 103 , 104 ] and environmental remediation [ 105 , 106 ]. However, only few studies focused on the use of multifluid electrospinning to prepare functional fiber membranes for water treatment applications.…”