The fabrication of the elastic zirconium-based carbon nanofibrous mats with three-dimensional macrostructures

Zirconium-based carbon nanofibrous mats (ZrCFs) with three-dimensional macrostructures were prepared by the carbonization of the Polyacrynitrile (PAN) nonwoven mats containing zirconium oxychloride from air jet spinning. ZrCFs exhibited the elastic, flexible and fluffy characteristics, much different from the carbon nanofibres without zirconium. Nano zirconium compounds were uniformly distributed in carbon nanofibres, ascribed to the chelation interaction between Zr+ and PAN precursor. XRD showed that the ZrO2, ZrC and ZrN structures formed in carbon nanofibres of ZrCFs, which could prevent carbon nanofibres from fusing and shrinking. When nitrogen was introduced, ZrCFs could further reduce the charge transfer resistance. The flexible ZrCFs have the potential electric application, which can also be extended to the functional textiles and catalysis.