LOW-COST TEXTILE GRADE CARBON FIBER Intermediates, Processes and Product Routes for Low-Cost Textile Grade Carbon Fiber Into Composites

There is global interest in reducing weight and energy efficiency of structures ranging from automobiles, bridges, wind blades, aircraft wing and other industrial components. Carbon fiber is a promising reinforcement due to its superior specific strength and stiffness. Conventional polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based carbon fiber of 12k, 24k, 50k tow size has excellent properties, but its wide-spread use in non-aerospace applications is cost-prohibitive. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF) is pursuing technologies to reduce the cost of carbon fiber via textile grade precursors. The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI)-The Composites Institute is extending the low-cost carbon fibers into composites for use in non-aerospace, automotive, wind, gas storage and industrial sectors. The cost of manufacturing textile grade PAN carbon fiber, referred to as TCF is approximately 50% that of conventional aerospace PAN with estimated reduced embodied energy of similar to 60%. The tow size of TCF is 300-450k (very wide) and hence the processing, processability, intermediate forms and performance (properties) bounds is not well-known. This paper provides representative processing pathways and performance of TCF on studies conducted in the period 2016-2021. The information presented is of value to composite designers, end-users and fabricators considering carbon fiber in applications.