The polymer blend technique as a method for designing fine carbon materials

The polymer blend technique is proposed as a method for designing fine carbon materials. In principle a blend consisting of polymers with and without carbon residue after heating is subjected to melt-spinning, stabilization and finally carbonization. A combination of two polymers and control of the blend texture are important for using the technique successfully. In this paper, three prepared fine carbon materials are introduced, i.e. carbon fibers including thin and long pores aligned parallel to the fiber, thin carbon fibers 200-300 nm in diameter and carbon nanotubes with 10-20-nm outer diameter. In particular the carbon nanotubes are described in detail to emphasize the great potential of the polymer blend technique. Further possibilities of the technique are also discussed briefly.