PREPARATION OF GRAPHITE FIBERS FROM A MODIFIED PAN PRECURSOR

Graphite fibres were developed from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibres modified with potassium permanganate. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the effect of modification on the physical properties, microstructure, elemental composition, electrical resistivity, and mechanical properties of fibres has been examined during the graphitization process. The graphite fibres developed from modified PAN fibres had a higher density, a greater stacking size, L(c), and a higher preferred orientation than those developed from unmodified PAN fibres. The graphite fibres also showed an improvement of 20%-40% in electrical resistivity and modulus.