Fabrication of pre-oxidation polyacronitrile (PAN) hollow microspheres.

The control PAN plastic microspheres were obtained after the evaporation of the middle solvent from silicon oil/PAN in DMF solution/silicon double emulsions (O1/W/O2) which were prepared with stirring method. The pre-oxidation PAN microspheres were prepared after the heating treatment of the PAN plastic microspheres successfully. The structures of the PAN pre-oxidation microspheres were characterized by the Stereomicroscope, the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), and the Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was found that the pre-oxidation PAN microspheres have best mechanical performance than the others at 300 °C. The pre-oxidation microspheres’ pressure-resistance results showed that they can bear greater pressure than the plastic ones, which means that the microspheres’ mechanical strength has been enhanced after the heating treatment. Most pre-oxidation microspheres can bear the pressure higher than 17 MPa, which provide a great prospect in the target application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]