A New Process for the Carbonization of Centrifugal Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers Driven by Rapid Joule Heating

ABSTRACT Traditional carbon nanofiber carbonization processes are often energy‐intensive and inefficient, which limits their scalability for applications in flexible electronics and energy storage. In this study, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber precursors were fabricated using centrifugal spinning, and an innovative and efficient carbonization process based on rapid Joule heating (RJH) was developed. The effects of carbonization temperature (900°C, 1200°C, 1500°C) and duration (10, 30, 60, and 120 s) on the microstructure and electrical conductivity of the resulting carbon fibers were systematically investigated. Multi‐scale characterization techniques, including SEM, EDS, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and conductivity testing, were employed to investigate how temperature and duration influence graphitization, defect density, and electrical properties. Experimental results showed that under optimal conditions (1200°C for 60 s), the degree of graphitization reached 91.12%. The conductivity reached 8.9 S cm −1 , which is more than 27.1% higher than that achieved using the traditional tube furnace carbonization process (2 h/1200°C). Moreover, the carbonization time was reduced to just 0.8% of the traditional process, while energy consumption dropped to only 1.39%. This study presents an efficient and low‐energy method for producing high‐performance carbon nanofibers, demonstrating strong potential for applications such as supercapacitor electrodes.