PAN was first synthesized in 1930 by Dr. Hans Fikentscher (1896-1983) and Dr. Claus Heuck, in Ludwigshafen laboratories at the German company IG Farben, that applied for a patent for their polymerization method entitled “Verfahren zur Herstellung von Polymerisationsprodukten”.
However, as PAN was found to be insoluble in most common solvents, the substance was considered unusable.

Excerpt from the English Patent GB358534A “Improvements in the manufacture and production of polymerization products” by Hans Fikentscher and Claus Heuck regarding obtaining Polyacrylonitrile

It was only when chemist Dr. Herbert Rein (1899-1955) of IG Farben of Bitterfeld discovered in 1931 that PAN, obtained from a sample when visiting the Ludwigshafen factory, could be dissolved in the ionic liquid 1-benzylpyridinium chloride (1- Benzylpyridinium chloride) and transformed into fibers.

In 1942 this researcher discovered that an even better solvent for PAN was dimethylformamide (DMF), which allowed him to develop the spinning process for the production of fibers and films.


Due to the attack on IG Farben's facilities during World War II by the Allied forces and the decline in their production, the research was halted and the process was not carried out on an industrial scale.

The beginning of PAN production on a large scale was made by Du Pont in 1946 for the production of “Orlon” fibers, which was patented and the process was known as wet spinning.

Antique advertising of Orlonacrylic fiber from Dupont

Shortly after, in 1954, the Bayer de Dormagen company, which was originated from the fragmentation of IG Farben, patented another PAN spinning process known as dry spinning and the production of “Dralon fibers” began.

Antique advertising of Bayer's Dralon acrylic fiber.

In the 1950s, other American companies started producing acrylic fibers with their respective brands:

• Union “Dynell”
• Monsanto “Acrilan”
• Cyanamid “Creslan”
• Dow Chemical “Zefran”
• Eastman Chemical “Verel”
• Goodrich “Darwan”.

In Europe, other companies also started the production of acrylic fibers under their respective brands:

• Hoechst “Dolan”,
• Rhone Poulenc “Crylor”,
• Courtauds “Courtelle”
• Montefibre “Leacril”

In the 1970s and 1980s other companies started producing in Asia, mainly in China, Japan, Korea, India and Turkey:

• Toray “Traylon”
• Toho Rayon “Beslon”,
• Mitsubishi Rayon “Vonnel”
• Exlan “Exlan”
• Aksa “Acryluna”.

In Brazil, the first acrylic fiber factory was built in the 1970s by Rhodia (Rhone Poulenc) in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, producing fibers under the “Crylor” brand and it operated until 2013.