An investigation on actuation behavior of polyacrylonitrile gel fibers as a function of microstructure and stabilization temperature

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) gel fibers show great potential to be used as actuators due to their mechanical response to chemical stimuli. In this work the response of PAN gel fibers to pH variation is studied. Three commercial grade PAN fibers with different chemical composition are investigated. Fibers are stabilized at temperatures varying from 100 to 275 °C. The stabilized fibers are hydrolyzed in an alkaline solution to obtain gel fibers. Gel fibers are stepwise immersed in solutions with pH varying between 0 and 14. Length/diameter variations are measured by optical microscopy. Results suggest that there is an optimum stabilization temperature at which a maximum response to pH change is obtained. This temperature corresponds to the onset of cyclization reactions, and is determined by the chemical composition of starting material. Thus at low stabilization temperatures ( T ≤ 200 °C) only a gel-like shell is formed on the surface of fibers. Fibers stabilized above 200 °C show significant length/diameter variations (up to 325%). Increasing the stabilization temperature above the optimum temperature weakens the response of fibers to pH change. The results also show that the actuation behavior of PAN fibers containing itaconic acid starts at lower stabilization temperatures. This is attributed to the effect of acidic groups in lowering the onset of cyclization reactions.