Ultrafine Carbon Fibers by Melt Electrospinning Alberta Bitumen Asphaltenes

The mechanical properties of traditional Carbon fibers (CFs) are approaching a plateau. In collaboration with our industrial partner, we propose to develop asphaltene-based ultrafine carbon fibers (UF-CFs), that bridges traditional CFs (diameter 5-7 µm) and carbon nanotubes (diameter 2-30 nm). The UF-CFs will be fabricated through eco-friendly melt electrospinning (e-spinning), followed by stabilization and carbonization. Melt espinning has been considered as the most promising technology to produce continuous nanofibers at a large scale by avoiding the expensive solvent-removal process in conventional solution e-spinning. The tremendous elongational forces in e-spinning could significantly accelerate the molecular alignment in
asphaltene fibers.