Acrylic Precursors for Carbon Fibers

Carbon fibers, owing to their excellent properties such as low density, high stiffness, good resistance toward chemical and environmental effects, and ability to withstand high temperature, find an important place in high-tech areas. with lightweight matrices. They have shown good potential for use as reinforcing agents in light metals such as aluminum and magnesium [1 – 3]. Although carbon fiber composites were initially developed for the aerospace industry and defense applications [4 – 9], the scope of their applications is widening to include areas such as ship and submarine structures [1 0, 11], nuclear technology [121], electrical and electronic applications [13 – 16], mining [17], medical [18–21], sporting goods [22], automobiles [18], etc. The growing demand for carbon fibers in 1987 and projections for the future can be seen from the estimates given in Table 1. They are used in composites The table shows a twofold increase in European demand for carbon fibers by 1995.