Types of Carbon Fibers Available in the World Market

2 TYPES OF CARBON FIBERS AVAILABLE IN THE WORLD MARKET 

The first commercial carbon fibers were based on viscose rayon, a cellulosic precursor, but Polycarbon is now the only current producer of this type of carbon fiber. The properties of rayon-based carbon fibers are listed in Table 20.1. A difficult fiber to produce with a low yield, its main use is in existing space programs. 

Oxidized PAN fiber is made by a slightly modified first stage of the PAN based carbon fiber process and the properties are listed in Table 20.2. Oxidized PAN fiber, with a density above 1.37 gcm , is non-flammable. 

Fibers from a pitch precursor are graphitic and for a given process temperature, can attain higher moduli than PAN based fibers, approaching the value for the graphite crystal ( 1000 GPa). Table 20.4 gives the properties for pitch based carbon fibers. 

Carbon fiber properties are continually being improved and the values quoted in the 

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