Oxidation

Oxidation in the original sense of the word used to refer to the chemical reaction of a substance with oxygen. Even today, this term is still frequently associated with the reaction of a substance with oxygen and the formation of oxides.

In fact, oxidation is a chemical reaction in which a substance to be oxidized gives off electrons and another substance takes up electrons. This is reduced by the absorption of electrons. Oxidation is therefore always associated with a reduction. Both reactions together are regarded as partial reactions of a redox reaction.

Oxidation by oxygen

Classical examples of oxidation by oxygen are all kinds of combustion of carbonaceous substances under atmospheric oxygen, e.g. combustion of coal, wood, gasoline in the engine, candles, etc. Furthermore, food in the body is oxidized in the many steps of the biochemical metabolism, among other things to endogenous substances, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. One of the best known examples of oxidation is the rusting of iron under the influence of oxygen with formation of various iron oxides (rust: Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, FeO).

Oxidation without oxygen

An example of oxidation without oxygen by releasing electrons is the reaction of sodium and chlorine to form sodium chloride, where the sodium atom releases an electron to the chlorine atom, thus oxidizing sodium. In return, the chlorine is reduced.
(Source: www.chemie.de/lexikon/Oxidation)

Oxidation and oxidation processes at ONEJOON

A prominent example of this applied process is the oxidation of PAN fiber as heat resistant and flame-proof material or as a precursor for the production of carbon fiber. In this process, endless synthetic plastic fiber made of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is oxidized in our oxidation ovens by the oxygen in the circulating air while precisely maintaining temperature and flow rate. In this multi-stage process step, also known as stabilization, the linear atomic bonding in the fiber is chemically altered and to achieve a thermally more stable ladder bonding before converting it into carbon fiber in the subsequent process steps of in the ONEJOON carbonization furnaces.