PAN is first thermally oxidized in air at 230 °C to form an oxidized PAN fiber and then carbonized above 1000 °C in inert atmosphere to make carbon fibers found in a variety of both high-tech and common daily applications such as civil and military aircraft primary and secondary structures, missiles, solid propellant rocket motors, pressure vessels, fishing rods, tennis rackets and bicycle frames.

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was first synthesized in 1930 by Hans Fikentscher and Claus Heuck in the Ludwigshafen works of the German chemical conglomerate IG Farben.

[4] In 1931, Herbert Rein, head of polymer fiber chemistry at the Bitterfeld plant of IG Farben, obtained a sample of PAN while visiting the Ludwigshafen works.

[6] He spun the first fibers based on PAN in 1938, using aqueous solutions of quaternary ammonium sodium thiocyanate and aluminum perchlorate for the production process and considered other solvents including DMF.

However, commercial introduction was delayed due to the wartime stresses on infrastructure, inability to melt the polymer without degradation, and solvents to allow solution processing were not known yet.

[9] [failed verification] In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), industrial polyacrylonitrile fibre production was started in 1956 at the VEB Film- und Chemiefaserwerk Agfa Wolfen due to the preliminary work of the "Wolcrylon" collective (de:Max Duch, Herbert Lehnert et al.).

Prior to this, the preconditions for the production of the raw materials had been created at the Buna Werke Schkopau (Polyacrylonitrile) and Leuna works (Dimethylformamide).

PAN is soluble in polar solvents, such as dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, ethylene and propylene carbonates, and in aqueous solutions of sodium thiocyanate, zinc chloride or nitric acid.

[16] Homopolymers of polyacrylonitrile have been used as fibers in hot gas filtration systems, outdoor awnings, sails for yachts, and fiber-reinforced concrete.

Copolymers containing polyacrylonitrile are often used as fibers to make knitted clothing like socks and sweaters, as well as outdoor products like tents and similar items.

Incorporation of halogen groups increases the flame resistance of the fiber, which makes modacrylics suitable for the use in sleepwear, tents and blankets.

[21] Glassy carbon, a common electrode material in electrochemistry, is created by heat-treating blocks of polyacrylonitrile under pressure at 1000 to 3000 °C over a period of several days.