Pitch based carbon fiber production

Abstract

Carbon fiber, which has unique physical, chemical and biological properties, is a versatile material in fiber form composed of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal structure. In the industrial production of carbon fibers, whose potential application areas develop by day, PAN (polyacrylonitrile) is generally used. However, the existing production technologies of PAN-based carbon fiber production have became unable to reduce production costs. By pitch-based carbon fiber production, which has a smaller market share than PAN, it is possible to produce carbon fiber with a cheaper way and a higher efficiency than PAN. Today, many studies have been carried out on the production of carbon fibers from isotropic and mesophase pitches that can be synthesized from different sources, development of production processes and end product characteristics. In this study, a literature review on pitch-based carbon fiber production was carried out and production processes were investigated.