Carbon fiber is undeniably one of the strongest materials on the planet. As such, it is experiencing a significant increase in popularity for its use, being used as anything from building material to the main component in pieces of clothing. The questions must be asked, though: what makes carbon fiber so strong? And how does it become the finished product that we’re so familiar with? Well, the answers to these questions lie in how it’s made.

Carbon fiber is not only popular because of its strength, but also because of how lightweight, thin, versatile, and relatively flexible it is. It is able to maintain all of these properties because of every single carbon atom that it is comprised of, which creates the fiber itself. Those who create carbon fiber must isolate and remove carbon particles from natural sources of carbon in order to receive the atoms themselves. These carbon atoms are then tightly bonded together in the construction process, building up its resistance to external forces and making it incredibly difficult to break. This forms its immense strength, but the very properties of carbon itself allow for it to be lightweight and flexible.

This bonding process is also how carbon fiber receives its famous black coloring. Prior to the bonding and weaving, the material known as carbon fiber is surprisingly white. It is initially this white color due to the material that it begins as, known as polyacrylonitrile, or PAN as it is otherwise known. It is through the intense bonding procedure that the carbon begins to oxidize and become the deep black color that it is known for having.

Carbon Fiber is a composition of several natural materials that result in the man-made product that it is. It is through engineering and human interference that carbon fiber is able to exist and provide the impressive strength that it does. Scientists have been able to provide the earth with one of its strongest materials to date, while also making one of its most lightweight and versatile ones, too.