Study on the formation process of polyacrylonitrile as‐spun fiber

In this article, the coagulation rate of PAN/DMSO dope was studied by observing the boundary movement of the gelled rods in different coagulation bath. Then the effect of the nature of solvent and coagulant and the coagulation conditions on the coagulation rate was discussed. It was found that the molecular size and molecular structure of coagulants is the most significant variable affecting the coagulation rate. The intermolecular affinity between coagulant and solvent determines the activation energy of coagulants, whereas the molecular volume is not a dominant factor. The coagulation rate depends not only on the diffusion coefficient of coagulants but also the nature of solvents. A solvent with strong polarity usually leads to a low‐coagulation rate. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008