Electrical Conductivity, Oil Absorption and Electric Heating of Carbon Black-modified Carbon Nanofibers

Abstract

Carbon-black-modified carbon nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning, and the effects of the carbon black content and processing temperature on the physical and chemical properties of the resulting composites were investigated. The results showed that the conductivity of carbon-black-modified nanofibers increased with the carbon black content. The addition of carbon black in a 20% mass ratio increased the conductivity of the composite(0.75 S/cm) by 230% compared with the undoped nano-fiber(2.47 S/cm), while the adulteration with 5% CB allowed the preservation of the mechanical properties of the composites. The fabricated carbon-black/carbon-nanocomposite fibers exhibited excellent oil absorption and electrothermal conversion performance. Furthermore, the conductivity and oil absorption capacity increased with increasing carbonization temperature. With a carbonization temperature of 1000 °C(5% carbon black), the voltage was 31 V, the current was 0.66 A, and the surface temperature of the composite reached 234.1 °C. The overall enhancement in physical properties upon the addition of even low amounts of carbon black makes these composites advantageous for future industrial applications.