title: Porous Carbon Nanofibers from Electrospun Biomass Tar/Polyacrylonitrile/Silver Hybrids as Antimicrobial Materials.
abstract: A novel route to fabricate low-cost porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using biomass tar, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and silver nanoparticles has been demonstrated through electrospinning and subsequent stabilization and carbonization processes. The continuous electrospun nanofibers had average diameters ranging from 392 to 903 nm. The addition of biomass tar resulted in increased fiber diameters, reduced thermal stabilities, and slowed cyclization reactions of PAN in the as-spun nanofibers. After stabilization and carbonization, the resultant CNFs showed more uniformly sized and reduced average diameters (226-507 nm) compared to as-spun nanofibers. The CNFs exhibited high specific surface area (>400 m(2)/g) and microporosity, attributed to the combined effects of phase separations of the tar and PAN and thermal decompositions of tar components. These pore characteristics increased the exposures and contacts of silver nanoparticles to the bacteria including Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli, leading to excellent antimicrobial performances of as-spun nanofibers and CNFs. A new strategy is thus provided for utilizing biomass tar as a low-cost precursor to prepare functional CNFs and reduce environmental pollutions associated with direct disposal of tar as an industrial waste.
authors.affiliation: †School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States.
authors.forename: Kunlin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: †School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States.|§Key Biomass Energy Laboratory of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, China.
authors.forename: Qinglin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: †School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: §Key Biomass Energy Laboratory of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, China.
authors.forename: Suxia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: §Key Biomass Energy Laboratory of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan 450008, China.
authors.forename: Tingzhou
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: ‡Department of Textiles, Apparel Design and Merchandising, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States.
authors.forename: Ioan I
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Negulescu
authors.affiliation: ⊥Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomass Energy of Henan Province, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450002, China.
authors.forename: Quanguo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003033:Coal Tar / Q000737:chemistry*; D004595:Electroplating / Q000379:methods; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D012399:Rotation; D012834:Silver / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; C010504:polyacrylonitrile; D012834:Silver; D002244:Carbon; D003033:Coal Tar
keywords: antimicrobial; biomass tar; carbon nanofibers; electrospinning; polyacrylonitrile