Acrylonitrile/1-vinylimidazole (AN/VIM) copolymers containing various mol% of VIM were synthesized by free radical solution polymerization. The copolymers were characterized by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, H-1 NMR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Char yields of the copolymers were 40-48% as determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) while gel fractions were found to be 90 -99% depending upon the composition, temperature and time. The complex viscosity of the precursor copolymers was measured as a function of composition and temperature. 82/18 mol% of AN/VIM copolymer based carbon fiber precursor was successfully processed by solvent-free melt spinning at 192 degrees C and the melt-spun fiber was characterized by DSC, ATR-IR, and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.