Deacetylation of cellulose acetate nanofibers by fluorination for carbon nanofibers

•Cellulose acetate nanofibers (CAnFs) were treated by fluorination for carbon fibers.•Fluorinated CAnFs didn’t melt during carbonization due to deacetylation.•Thermal stability of CAnFs increased according to the introduction of fluorine.

Cellulose acetate (CA), with an easily controlled morphology in the production of nanofibers, requires deacetylation to produce carbon nanofibers (CFs). In this study, electrospun CA nanofibers were deacetylated by fluorination. In mild fluorination, CA nanofiber and fluorinated CA nanofibers had similar fiber morphologies. However, in extreme fluorination conditions, CA nanofibers were aggregated. Fluorination caused deacetylation and introduced fluorine functional groups to the CA nanofibers. Deacetylation of the CA nanofibers prevented the fibers from melting during the carbonization process. The introduced fluorine functional groups increased the thermal stability and carbonization yield of the CA nanofibers. These results suggest that fluorination is an effective deacetylation method for CFs from CA nanofibers.