Polyacrylonitrile

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is a resinous, fibrous, or rubbery organic polymer. Almost all polyacrylonitrile resins are copolymers made from mixtures of monomers; with acrylonitrile as the main component. PAN fibers are the chemical precursor of high-quality carbon fiber. It is chemically modified to make the carbon fibers found in tennis rackets, badminton rackets & high-tech bicycles. It is a component repeat unit in several important copolymers, such as styrene-acrylonitrile or SAN and ABS plastic.

Applications

Homopolymers of polyacrylonitrile have been used as fibers in hot gas filtration systems, outdoor awnings, sails for yachts, and even fiber reinforced concrete. Mostly copolymers containing polyacrylonitrile are used as fibers to make knitted clothing, like socks and sweaters, as well as outdoor products like tents and such. If the label of some piece of clothing says "acrylic", then it\'s made out of some copolymer of polyacrylonitrile. It was made into spun fiber at DuPont in 1941 and marketed under the name of Orlon.[1]

See also

• Carbon fiber
• Copolymer with styrene: Styrene-acrylonitrile resin

External links

References

http://www.pslc.ws/mactest/pan.htm

This article about polymer science is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia