Sustainable Production of Carbon Fiber: Effect of Cross-Linking in Wool Fiber on Carbon Yields and Morphologies of Derived Carbon Fiber

In this work, various crosslinking pathways are explored as a means of altering the yield and tensile properties of carbon fibre derived from the carbonisation of cross-linked wool fibre at 800 °C under nitrogen. The resulting carbon fibres were characterised in terms of chemical composition, carbon yield, surface topology, crystal structure, hydrophilicity and tensile properties. It was found that the carbon yield can be increased by 55% through the use of crosslinking treatments. Carbon fibre that was produced from both untreated and cross-linked wool fibre exhibited superhydrophilicity. Although the tensile strength of the resulting carbon fibre was relatively low in this preliminary study, the resulting fibre could have applications in the manufacturing of thermoplastic composite materials as low modulus filler.