Through more than half a century of development, three generations of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers have emerged successively. Since 2010, the third-generation carbon fibers have been successfully developed and achieved an effective combination of high strength and high stiffness characteristics, which are expected to become a priority for the future high-performance carbon fibers. In this article, the development stages and main manufacturers of PAN-based carbon fibers were introduced first. The research background of the third-generation carbon fiber, which combines high strength and high modulus, was elaborated subsequently. Then, the development process of the third-generation carbon fiber at home and abroad was reviewed in detail. Finally, the future development direction of carbon fiber was discussed. With the successful development of Toray M46X carbon fiber in early 2024, the product series of the third-generation carbon fiber is expected to further expand. In addition, for cutting-edge fields such as cable materials for space elevators, foreign countries are also developing carbon fibers of higher strength.

carbon fiber  /  high strength  /  high stiffness  /  fracture elongation