• Carbon letters
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.69-73
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• 2003

In this work, the effect of a direct oxyfluorination on surface and mechanical interfacial properties of PAN-based carbon fibers is investigated. The changes of surface functional groups and chemical composition of the oxyfluorinated carbon fibers are determined by FT-IR and XPS measurements, respectively. ILSS of the composites is also studied in terms of oxyfluorination conditions. As a result, FT-IR exhibits that the carboxyl/ester groups (C=O) at 1632 $cm^{-1} and hydroxyl group (O-H) at 3450 $cm^{-1} are observed in the oxyfluorinated carbon fibers. Especially, the oxyfluorinated carbon fibers have a higher O-H peak intensity than that of the fluorinated ones. XPS result also shows that the surface functional groups, including C-O, C=O, HO-C=O, and C-$F_x$ after oxyfluorination are formed on the carbon fiber surfaces, which are more efficient and reactive to undergo an interfacial reaction to matrix materials. Moreover, the formation of C-$F_x$ physical bonding of the carbon fibers with fluorine increases the surface polarity of the fibers, resulting in increasing ILSS of the composites. This is probably due to the improvement of interfacial adhesion between fibers and matrix resins.

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2015

This study fabricated low thermal conductive polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers containing cellulose particles while maintaining their mechanical properties. The high thermal conductivity of carbon fibers limits their application as a high temperature insulator in various systems such as an insulator for propulsion parts in aerospace or missile systems. By controlling process parameters such as the heat treatment temperature of the cellulose particles and the amount of cellulose added, the thermal and mechanical properties of the PAN-based carbon fibers were investigated. The results show that it is possible to manufacture composite carbon fibers with low thermal conductivity. That is, thermal conductivities were reduced by the cellulose particles in the PAN based carbon fibers while at the same time, the tensile strength loss was minimized, and the tensile modulus increased.

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.62-66
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• 2015

In this study, carbonized fibers were prepared by using acidically cross-linked LDPE fibers. The surface morphologies of the carbonized fibers were observed by SEM. The effects of cross-linking process temperatures were studied using thermal analyses such as DSC and TGA. The melting and heating enthalpy of the fibers decreased as the cross-linking temperature increased. The cross-linked fibers had a carbonization yield of over 50%. From SEM results the highest yield of carbonized LDPE-based fibers was obtained by cross-linking at a sulfate temperature ($170^{\circ}C$). As a result, carbonation yield of the carbonized fibers was found to depend on the functions of the cross-linking ratio of the LDPE precursors.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3733-3737
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• 2013

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based ultrafine fibers and carbon fibers were produced by wet-spinning, and the crystal sizes and thermal and mechanical properties of the fibers were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the superfine fibrils in the surfaces of the PAN/polyvinyl acetate (PVA) blend fibers increased slightly with increasing PAN content before removal of the PVA. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that the PAN and PVA in the blend fibers do not mix and, therefore, each maintains their inherent thermal characteristics. The crystal sizes of the blend fibers prepared by removing PVA with water increased at 5 wt % water. The extent of the reaction of the PAN carbon fibers, as calculated from the FT-IR spectra, is maximized at the stepwise temperature of $230^{\circ}C$, and the density increased significantly above this temperature. The carbon fibers had relatively good mechanical properties, as shown by their tensile strength and modulus values of 2396 MPa and 213 GPa, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2006

This article is concerned with the overview of the activated carbon fibers. Firstly, this review provides a comprehensive survey of the overall processes for the synthesis of the activated carbon fibers from the carbonaceous materials. Subsequently, the physicochemical properties such as pore structures and surface oxygen functional groups of the activated carbon fibers were discussed in detail. Finally, as electrochemical applications of the activated carbon fibers to electrode materials for electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC), the electrochemical characteristics of the activated carbon fiber electrodes and the various methods to improve the capacitance and rate capability were introduced. In particular, the effect of pore length distribution (PLD) on kinetics of double-layer charging/discharging was discussed based upon the experimental and theoretical results in our work. And then we discussed in detail the applications of the activated carbon fibers to adsorbent materials for purification of liquid and gas.

• Carbon letters
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.106-110
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• 2005

In this work, the effects of atmospheric oxygen plasma treatment of carbon fibers on mechanical interfacial properties of carbon fibers-reinforced epoxy matrix composites was studied. The surface properties of the carbon fibers were determined by acid/base values, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. Also, the crack resistance properties of the composites were investigated in critical stress intensity factor ($K_{IC}$), and critical strain energy release rate mode II ($G_{IIC}$) measurements. As experimental results, FT-IR of the carbon fibers showed that the carboxyl/ester groups (C=O) at 1632 $cm^{-1}$ and hydroxyl group (O-H) at 3450 $cm^{-1}$ were observed for the plasma treated carbon fibers, and the treated carbon fibers had the higher O-H peak intensity than that of the untreated ones. The XPS results also indicated that the $O_{1S}/C_{1S}$ ratio of the carbon fiber surfaces treated by the oxygen plasma led to development of oxygen-containing functional groups. The mechanical interfacial properties of the composites, including $K_{IC}$ (critical stress intensity factor) and $G_{IIC}$ (critical strain energy release rate mode II), were also improved for the oxygen plasma-treated carbon fibersreinforced composites. These results could be explained that the oxygen plasma treatment played an important role to increase interfacial adhesions between carbon fibers and epoxy matrix resins in our composite system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.113-118
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• 2010

For a present study, woven type carbon fibers were surface-modified by oxygen plasma to improve adhesive strength between carbon fibers and epoxy. The change of hydrophilic properties by the plasma modification was investigated through the contact angle measurement and the calculation of surface energy of carbon fiber due to the oxygen plasma modification. FESEM and XPS analyses were performed to study the chemical and physical changes on the surface of carbon fibers due to the oxygen plasma modification. Pin-on-disk wear tests were conducted under dry condition using unmodified and plasma-modified carbon/epoxy composites to investigate the effect of plasma modification on the wear behavior of woven type carbon/epoxy composites. The results showed that the friction coefficient and the wear rate of plasma-modified carbon/epoxy composites were lower than those of unmodified carbon/epoxy composites, respectively. XPS analysis showed that new functional group of a carbonyl type was created on the carbon fibers by the $O_2$ plasma treatment, which enhanced adhesive strength between carbon fibers and epoxy, leading to improve wear properties

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.1630-1634
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• 2011

Electroless plating of metallic nickel on carbon fiber surfaces was carried out to control specific electric resistivity of the fibers, and the effects of the nickel content and coating thickness on the electric properties were studied. The structural and surface properties of the carbon fibers were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The specific resistivity of the fibers was measured using a four-point probe testing method. From the XPS results, the oxygen and Ni atomic ratio of the fibers was greatly enhanced as the plating time increased. Additionally, it was observed that the specific electric resistivity decreased considerably in the presence of metallic nickel particles and with the formation of nickel layers on carbon fibers.

• Carbon letters
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2006

Carbon-ceramic composites were fabricated by using fly ash and PANOX fibers as reinforcement. Fly ash, because of its small size particles e.g. submicron to micron level can be effectively dispersed along with fibrous reinforcements. Phenolic resin was used as carbon precursor. Both dry as well as wet methods were used for forming composites. The resulting composites were characterized for their microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties. The microstructure and mechanical properties of composites are found to be dependent on type of the fly ash, fibrous reinforcements as well as processing parameters. The addition of fly ash improves hardness and the fibers, which get co-carbonized on heat treatment, increase the flexural strength of the carbon-ceramic composites. Composites with dual reinforcement exhibit about 30-40% higher strength as compared to the composites made with single reinforcement, either with fly ash as filler or with chopped fibers.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.94-98
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• 2013

Isotropic pitch fibers were stabilized and carbonized for preparing carbon fibers. To optimize the duration and temperature during the stabilization process, a thermogravimetric analysis was conducted. Stabilized fibers were carbonized at 1000, 1500, and $2000^{\circ}C$ in a furnace under a nitrogen atmosphere. An elemental analysis confirmed that the carbon content increased with an increase in the carbonization temperature. Although short graphitic-like layers were observed with carbon fibers heat-treated at 1500 and $2000^{\circ}C$, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction revealed no significant effect of the carbonization temperature on the crystalline structure of the carbon fibers, indicating the limit of developing an ordered structure of isotropic pitch-based carbon fibers. The electrical conductivity of the carbonized fiber reached $3.9{\times}10^4$ S/m with the carbonization temperature increasing to $2000^{\circ}C$ using a four-point method.