FABRICATION OF CARBON FIBERS FROM COMMERCIAL WET SPIN POLYACRYLONITRILE FIBERS

Carbon fibers are fabricated from different materials such as special polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers, cellulose fibers and pitch. But PAN fibers are recognized as the most widely used precursor for the present-day manufacture of carbon fibers. The process of fabrication carbon fibers from special PAN fibers is composed of two steps including oxidative stabilization at low temperature and carbonization at high temperatures in an inert atmosphere. Today carbon fibers are still expensive because of the high price of their raw material (special PAN fibers). This study focuses on making carbon fibers from commercial PAN fibers (low price PAN fibers used in textile industry). The results shows that in case of conducting complete stabilization process, it is possible to produce desirable carbon fibers from commercial PAN fibers. With some changes in conventional procedure of stabilization in terms of temperature and time of operation, the desirable conditions of complete stabilization are achieved.