Currently , most carbon fibers are produced from polymer known as polyacrylonitrile or PAN , and it is pretty costly . The price of PAN makes up about 50% of the production cost of carbon fiber .
PAN is used to creat 90% of carbon fibers found in the market today , but it's production requires an enormous amount of energy . First , PAN fibers have to be heated to 200~300 degrees to oxidize them .
Next , they must be heated to 1200~1600 degrees to transform the atoms into carbon .
Finally , they have to be heated to 2100 degrees so that the molecules are aligned properly .
Without this series of steps , the resulting material would lack its needed strength and stiffness .
But by adding small amounts of 2D graphene to the production process , can reduce the cost and increase the strength of carbon fibers .
From CompositesToday
