ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE CARBON-FIBERS FROM PAN PRECURSOR

Carbon fibres with improved mechanical properties have been produced f rom Courtelle SAF PAN fibres modified with acetic acid and KMnO4 impre gnations both separately and in combination. Carbon fibres produced fr om KMnO4-treated PAN fibres show a marked increase in the tensile stre ngth of the resulting fibres which rises from 2 to 3.9 GPa by carboniz ation up to 1000-degrees-C only. Moreover, a new approach during therm al stabilization has been attempted which has been found to generate s tabilized fibres with a structure different from what is observed norm ally in these fibres. Carbon fibres produced in this way show apprecia ble improvement in their mechanical properties.