High‐Performance Carbon Fibers Prepared by Continuous Stabilization and Carbonization of Electron Beam‐Irradiated Textile Grade Polyacrylonitrile Fibers

The manufacturing of high‐performance carbon fibers (CFs) from low‐cost textile grade poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) homo‐ and copolymers using continuous electron beam (EB) irradiation, stabilization, and carbonization on a kilogram scale is reported. The resulting CFs have tensile strengths of up to 3.1 ± 0.6 GPa and Young's moduli of up to 212 ± 9 GPa, exceeding standard grade CFs such as Toray T300. Additionally, the Weibull strength and modulus, the microstructure, and the morphology of these CFs are determined.