Carbon fibers derived from commodity polymers: A review

Kenneth R. Brown, Timothy Harrell, Luke Skrzypczak, Alexander Scherschel, Felix Wu, Xiaodong Li

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Carbon fiber composites are prohibitively expensive for a wide array of applications that would greatly benefit from their superior specific strength and specific stiffness. Replacing the market-dominant carbon fiber precursor material, polyacrylonitrile, with a low-cost alternative would significantly reduce the cost of carbon fiber production. Commodity polymers may provide such an alternative thanks to their abundance and ease of production into fibers. This review presents state-of-the-art carbon fiber production from polyacrylonitrile, an overview of melt-spinnable alternative precursors broadly, and an in-depth review of the latest advances in the synthesis of carbon fibers from low-cost, commodity thermoplastics such as polyethylene, polyamide, polystyrene, polyester, and poly(vinyl chloride).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)422-439
Number of pages18
JournalCarbon
Volume196
Early online date5 May 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2022

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Carbon fibers derived from commodity polymers: A review'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this