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Electrospinning; inter-bonded carbon nanofibres; nonsolvent effect; supercapacitor.

The influences of nonsolvent on the morphologies and electrochemical properties of carbon nanofibres (CNFs)obtained via pre-oxidation and carbonization of electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibres were mainly studied.Volatilemethanol (MeOH) and acetonitrile (MeCN) were introduced into PAN solutions as the nonsolvent for PAN, which mayproduce porous structures via inducement of phase separation. The morphologies of the prepared nanofibres were observed viascanning electron microscopy. It was found that PAN nanofibres possessed corrugated and rough surfaces. PAN fibres obtainedin the presence of nonsolvent showed larger diameters and wider distributions than those obtained without nonsolvent. Afterthermal treatments, inter-bonded CNFs were prepared. The structures of CNFs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction andRaman spectrometry. Then the electrochemical properties of CNFs were examined by an electrochemical method in a threeelectrodesystem. Based on chronopotentiometry, CNFs exhibited the highest capacity up to 198 F g$^{−1}$ at current density of3 A g$^{−1}$. The influence rule of nonsolvents on the morphology and capacities of CNFs was summarized and interpreted.

YULAI ZHAO¹ ZHUANG ZHAO¹ JIAO GAO¹ XIANCAI JIANG¹ LI SHAO¹ HONGMEI LI¹

1. Department of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China

Published

8 February 2018

Manuscript received

10 December 2016

Accepted

24 May 2017