A Simple Method for Preparation of Highly Conductive Nitrogen/Phosphorus-Doped Carbon Nanofiber Films
Tongzhou Chen,
Yongbo Chi,
Xingyao Liu,
Xiwen Xia,
Yousi Chen,
Jian Xu,
Yujie Song
Affiliations
Tongzhou Chen
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Yongbo Chi
Engineering Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
Xingyao Liu
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Xiwen Xia
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Yousi Chen
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Jian Xu
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Yujie Song
Engineering Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials, Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
Heteroatom-doped conductive carbon nanomaterials are promising for energy and catalysis applications, but there are few reports on increasing their heteroatom doping content and conductivity simultaneously. In this manuscript, we use 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5-aminobenzimidazole as the diamine monomer to prepare polyamic acid with asymmetric structural units doped with phosphoric acid (PA) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as innovative composite precursors, which are then electrospun into nanofiber films. After stabilization and carbonization, the electrospun fibers are converted into N/P co-doped electrospun carbon nanofiber films (ECNFs) with high heteroatom content, including 4.33% N and 0.98% P. The morphology, structure, and conductivity of ECNFs were systematically characterized. The ECNFs doped with 15 wt.% PA exhibited conductivity that was 47.3% higher than that of the ECNFs undoped with PA, but the BET surface area decreased by 23%. The doped PA in the precursor nanofibers participated in the cyclization of PAN during thermal stabilization, as indicated by infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis results. X-ray diffraction and Raman results indicate that a moderate amount of PA doping facilitated the formation of ordered graphitic crystallite structures during carbonization and improved the conductivity of ECNFs.
