From precursor to Carbon fibers - Carbon fiber research at ITA

Carbon fibers can be optimized for a wide area of applications because of their mechanical properties. The Institut für Textiltechnik der (ITA) at RWTH Aachen/Germany closes the gap between lab-scale research that is usually done at universities and industrial-scale production by the use of pilot-scale lines. Investigations of precursor materials start with thermal analysis. By DSC information about the thermal behavior of the material is obtained. DSC is used to develop temperature profiles for further trials. A pycnometer is used to determine the density of the fibers. Especially in the stabilization process the density is an important property to verify its success. Some important process parameters are not covered with discontinuous trials. Therefore a quasi-continuous laboratory line is used which allows continuous trials at very low speeds. The final step of the carbon fiber development at ITA is the up-scaling on a setup that is close to industrial ones.