Pitch-based carbon fiber

Carbon fiber is often time produced using two main methods: through the use of Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and from pitch . Pitch is a viscoelastic material that is composed of aromatic hydrocarbons. Pitch is produced via the distillation of carbon-based materials, such as plants, crude oil, and coal . Pitch is isotropic, but can be made anisotropic through the use of heat treatments. However, the most important in carbon fiber production is mesophase pitch due to the ability to melt spin anisotropic mesophase pitch without filament breakage.