Effects of drawing process on the structure and tensile properties of textile-grade PAN fiber and its carbon fiber

Abstract

Carbon fibers (CFs) were prepared using lowcost, textile-grade polyacrylonitrile fibers, which were 200% to 400% drawn in a hot water bath at 90°C or/and in a tubular furnace at 180°C. X-ray diffractograms confirmed that the drawing process led to higher crystallinity and molecular orientation. These fibers were stabilized in a convection oven at 25-255°C for 390 min. After stabilization, carbonization was performed to obtain carbon fibers. The tensile strength of CFs without drawing was <0.8 GPa; however, CFs with 200% and 200% drawing in a hot water bath at 90°C and in a tubular furnace at 180°C, respectively, showed a tensile strength of <1.7 GPa. These results suggest that the drawing process of precursor fibers affected the tensile properties of the resulting CFs significantly.