The principal aims of the review paper are (1) to establish broad overview information, both qualitative and quantitative, relating to the world market for polyacrylonitrile (PAN) or pitch-based carbon fibers; and (2) to generate an effective analysis and break down of consumption by process route and eventual end-use. The review paper also designed specifically to provide subscribers with an accurate, independent, and realistic assessment of the current status and future perspective of the market for carbon fibers in the world. The world market for carbon fibers continues to grow rapidly, fuelled by new industrial end uses, such as sport and leisure goods, aerospace, automotive applications, civil engineering and infrastructure repair, and immerging applications in energy generation. Demands for properties of carbon fibers used in those applications include many things such as strength, toughness, fatigue property, corrosion resistance, heat resistance, etc., and these become to be higher level. On the other hand, demands for manufacturing technologies of carbon fibers become to be difficult with these demands for properties, and these are wide variety such as high efficiencies, high qualities, many functions, labor saving, and low cost. In this review paper, thus, the recent carbon fibers corresponded to these needs, and its latest manufacturing technologies as well as market prospects are described.

• Min-Kang Seo(Dept. of Chemistry, Inha University)
• Byung-Gak Min(Dept. of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chungju National University)
• Soo-Jin Park(Dept. of Chemistry, Inha University)