The effect of pre‐carbonization on the properties of PAN‐based carbon fibers

Abstract

AbstractA continuous stabilization and two‐stage carbonization process was used to prepare polyacrylonitrile (PAN)‐based carbon fibers, The effect of pre‐carbonization (300 to 550°C) on the final properties and microstructure of carbon fibers was measured. Experimental results using an X‐ray diffractometer indicated the presence of a less ordered structure at 2Θ from 5 to 18° in the pre‐carbonized fibers and the final carbon fibers. This study found that the pre‐carbonization process strongly affects the microstructure of the resulting carbon fibers. The results also showed that a suitable pre‐carbonization was very conducive to improvement in tensile strength or in Young's modulus of the final carbon fibers. When the final carbon fiber was pre‐carbonized at 300 and 550°C, respectively, these fibers had a higher tensile strength and higher Young's modulus than carbon fibers pre‐carbonized at other conditions.