Abstract
This paper reviews the research and development activities conducted over the past few decades on carbon fibers. The two most important precursors in the carbon fiber industry are polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and mesophase pitch (MP). The structure and composition of the precursor affect the properties of the resultant carbon fibers significantly. Although the essential processes for carbon fiber production are similar, different precursors require different processing conditions in order to achieve improved performance. The research efforts on process optimization are discussed in this review. The review also attempts to cover the research on other precursor materials developed mainly for the purpose of cost reduction.
Highlights
Carbon fiber is defined as a fiber containing at least 92 wt % carbon, while the fiber containing at least 99 wt % carbon is usually called a graphite fiber [1]
Natural pitch is produced by the destructive distillation of petroleum and coal, while synthetic pitch is produced by the pyrolysis of synthetic polymers
Otani et al [87] reported the production of carbon fibers spun from petroleum asphalt and coal-tar pitch that were treated by bubbling nitrogen gas through them at about 380 °C and vacuumed at the same temperature
Summary
Carbon fiber is defined as a fiber containing at least 92 wt % carbon, while the fiber containing at least 99 wt % carbon is usually called a graphite fiber [1]. Carbon fibers generally have excellent tensile properties, low densities, high thermal and chemical stabilities in the absence of oxidizing agents, good thermal and electrical conductivities, and excellent creep resistance. They have been extensively used in composites in the form of woven textiles, prepregs, continuous fibers/rovings, and chopped fibers. The infusible, stabilized fibers are subjected to a high temperature treatment at around 1,000 °C in an inert atmosphere to remove hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other non-carbon elements.
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