The structure of PAN gel fibres spun by the water-thiocyanate method is investigated. It is shown that in identical spinning conditions, the packing density of the structural elements in gel fibres based on poly(ANco-MA-co-ItA) terpolymer is lower than in gel fibres based on poly(AN-co-MA-co-AMPS). A structural model of PAN gel fibre is proposed and substantiated. It is shown that the lower packing density of the structural elements in PAN gel fibres is responsible for the higher sorption power with respect to different inorganic and organic compounds and higher rate of polymer-analog transformations.The important amount of scientific and technical information accumulated in this area suggests that the structural and mechanical properties of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibres used both directly in fabrication of textiles and as precursors for manufacture of carbon and chemisorption fibres are predetermined by the primary structure and molecular-weight characteristics of fibre-forming copolymers and the spinning conditions.The basic industrial methods of fabrication of PAN fibres are different versions of wet spinning based on terpolymers of acrylonitrile (90-93 wt. %) with comonomers containing ester (5-8%) and acid (1-2%) functional groups. The structure of wet spun fibres after washing up to heat treatments (drying, thermofixation, hot drawing) is modeled by oriented gels that include water. The specific surface area (S sp ) of these gel fibres and ordering of their structural elements are determined by the conditions of realization of phase transitions during spinning and plasticization drawing [1].The study of the structural features of gel fibres of the composition poly[acrylonitrile(92.3%)-co-methyl acrylate(6.4%)-co-itaconic acid (1.3%)] spun with the water-dimethylformamide and water-thiocyanate methods in identical conditions of orientation drawing showed that spinning using hydrotropic solvents (for example, 51.5% aqueous solution of NaSCN) produces looser packing of the structural elements of the gel fibres than when aprotic solvents are used [for example, dimethylformamide (DMF)] [2]. The kinetics of fibre formation in manufacture of PAN fibres with the water-thiocyanate (salt) method was investigated previously in [3][4][5]. Diffusion of water into the spinning solution jet takes place at a higher rate than diffusion of NaSCN into the spinning bath. This initially causes slight swelling of the spun gel fibre and then insignificant compaction of its structure (before leaving the spinning bath).The two-phase character of the structure of PAN fibres not treated with heat was hypothesized in [6][7][8]. Heating PAN fibres above the glass transition temperature (T g ) intensifies relaxation processes that lead to transition of amorphous regions in the polymer substrate to a more ordered mesophase.We report the results of a systematic study of the structure of PAN gel fibres based on terpolymers of acrylonitrile (AN), methyl acrylate (MA), and itaconic acid (ItA) or 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AM...