Influence of Lignin units on the properties of Lignin/PAN‐derived carbon fibers

Abstract Lignin was proposed to an attractive precursor for making carbon fibers (CFs) owing to its high carbon yield, low‐cost, and renewable sourcing. In this work, Lignin/polyacrylonitrile (PAN)‐derived CFs were prepared and characterized to investigate the effects of Lignin units on their porous texture and surface chemistry. The results showed that the LP20‐CF prepared from PAN with 20% Lignin had higher surface areas than that of the pristine LP0‐CF, and it possessed interconnected multidimensional network with fiber bonding. Moreover, Lignin/PAN‐derived CFs contained more oxygen functional groups of CO, COOR, and nitrogen functional groups of N‐6, NQ than the pristine CFs. These results indicated that the Lignin could be beneficial to achieve CFs with special structure, developed porosity and rich surface chemistry without activation. Therefore, the utilization of Lignin to produce pores and improve surface chemistry of CFs was a simple and effective strategy for preparing the low‐cost and high‐performance functional carbon materials.