Abstract: To find out the high-quality polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers, some differences are sought by comparing domestic PAN fibers with the foreign ones. X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, elemental analyzer, tensile-testing machine and high-temperature differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) are used to characterize the individual microstructure, chemical structure, elemental content, mechanical properties and thermal properties. It is found that high-quality PAN fibers have high density, lower titre, higher or adequate tensile strength, and they also have better conglomeration structure, smaller crystal dimension with dispersive distribution, less microvoids and flaws.

Key words: Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber, Carbon fiber, Structure, Properties