Carbon fibers (CF) are predominantly being manufactured from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based precursors which require solution spinning utilizing health hazardous organic solvent. This also adds to the cost of production due to the investment for the solvent recovery. Study of melt processable precursors has long been sought as a solution for health and environmental problems associated with the use of hazardous solvent. No use of solvent for spinning will also reduce the cost of manufacturing. Our coworker Deng et al. reported the possibility of using acrylonitrile-co-1-vinylimidazole (AN/VIM) copolymer as melt processable CF precursor. Here we report a successful preparation of carbon fiber from the co-polymer. We successfully demonstrated the preparation of thinner precursor fibers and carbon fibers through our optimization study of melt spinning, annealing, stabilization and carbonization.

The extracts of Pinus densiflora sawdust by n hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol solvent were investigated to identify their mycelial growth inhibition against Lentinus edodes. The yields of n hexane soluble fraction, ethyl acetate-soluble fraction, and methanol soluble fraction from P. densiflora sawdust were obtained 1.36%, 2.21% and 4.03% using organic solvent, respectively. The mycelial growth inhibition of L. edodes was the greatest for n hexane extract, ranging from 36.5% to 47.6% at concentrations of 125 ppm to 1,000 ppm, with the values for all concentrations significantly different from one another. After direct extraction of P. densiflora sawdust using n hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol, each extract was separated into three fractions by silica gel column chromatography and then the fractions were isolated on the values of Rf by thin layer chromatography. The mycelial growth inhibition against L. edodes was recognized in the fractions II (33.5%) and III (37.6%) of n hexane extract, the fraction II (21.4%) of ethyl acetate extract and the fraction II (26.4%) of methanol extract. The fractions III of n-hexane extract showed the highest growth inhibition among the nine fractions of the organic solvent extract.