The search for alternative processes and high performance materials precursors for carbon fibers, has been continuously the aim for use in the aerospace, automotive, energy and sports goods market. The reduction in the precursor production cost is then essential to allow the installation of an industrial plant to produce a general purpose carbon fiber. Polyacrylonitrile has been the main precursor for carbon fiber production. It has been produced by the wet and dry spinning process since it has been discovered in the beginning of the forties. Nowadays, the extrusion process of PAN fibers shows potential of cost reduction in relation to the wet spinning method. This innovative technology enables spinning by melting PAN polymer by using glycerin as the primary plasticizer, avoiding the use of highly toxic solvents. In the present work, PAN copolymer was copolymerized by conventional aqueous suspension. Its characterization was performed by FT-IR, GPC and DSC analysis. The fibers obtained by extrusion process were characterized by SEM, DSC/TGA analysis and kinetics of the thermal stabilization process was studied by Kissinger method. The results showed that styrene monomer was suitable for polymerization with PAN leading to a molecular weight M_n= 46,000 g/mol and M_w = 138,000 g/mol. The PAN-co-Styrene copolymer was suitable for obtaining extruded PAN fibers continuously with morphological and thermal properties having properties similar to commercial PAN fibers.

寻找碳纤维的替代工艺和高性能材料前体，一直是航空航天、汽车、能源和体育用品市场的目标。因此，前体生产成本的降低对于允许安装工业设备以生产通用碳纤维是必不可少的。聚丙烯腈一直是碳纤维生产的主要前体。自四十年代初被发现以来，一直采用湿法和干法纺纱工艺生产。如今，与湿法纺丝方法相比，PAN 纤维的挤出工艺显示出降低成本的潜力。这项创新技术通过使用甘油作为主要增塑剂熔化 PAN 聚合物来纺丝，避免使用剧毒溶剂。在目前的工作中，PAN共聚物通过常规的水悬浮共聚。通过 FT-IR、GPC 和 DSC 分析对其进行表征。通过SEM、DSC/TGA分析对挤出工艺获得的纤维进行表征，并通过Kissinger方法研究热稳定过程的动力学。结果表明苯乙烯单体适合与PAN聚合，分子量为M_n = 46,000 g/mol 和 M _w  = 138,000 g/mol。PAN-共-苯乙烯共聚物适用于连续获得挤出的PAN纤维，其形态学和热学性质与商业PAN纤维的性质相似。