Tunable polyacrylonitrile-based micellar aggregates as a potential tool for the fabrication of carbon nanofibers

A low-cost method for the preparation of carbon nanofibers from tunable worm-like miceller aggregates of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based block copolymers was reported. Micellization of a series of copolymers with identical PAN block lengths was carried out in chloroform, and their miceller morphologies in solution and the solid states were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). DLS correlation functions were measured at different scattering angles and in a wide range of concentrations. The results suggested that the diameters measured by TEM were smaller than those obtained by DLS. It was also observed that dried aggregates are suitable for carbonization with retention of the original morphology of PAN domains.