Rapid stabilization of polyacrylonitrile fibers achieved by plasma-assisted thermal treatment on electron-beam irradiated fibers

Abstract In the manufacturing process of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based carbon fiber (CF), stabilization, is crucial to both process efficiency and the mechanical properties of CFs. Highly effective stabilization was successfully demonstrated by plasma-assisted thermal treatment (PT) on electron-beam irradiated PAN fibers. The method was remarkably efficient to prepare carbonizable fibers within a total stabilization time of 13.3 min, which includes electron beam irradiation (3.3 min) and PT time (10 min). We believe that such a fast stabilization was achieved by coaction of diffusive and reactive oxygen species from atmospheric plasma source with oxygen-favored radicals introduced by pre-treatment of electron-beam irradiation.