Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nmvwc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T05:41:34.295Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Heat treating carbon nanofibers for optimal composite performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

J.Y. Howe ,
G.G. Tibbetts ,
C. Kwag  and
M.L. Lake
J.Y. Howe*
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
G.G. Tibbetts
Affiliation:
Applied Sciences, Inc., Cedarville, Ohio 45314
C. Kwag
Affiliation:
Applied Sciences, Inc., Cedarville, Ohio 45314
M.L. Lake
Affiliation:
Applied Sciences, Inc., Cedarville, Ohio 45314
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: howej@ornl.gov
Get access

Abstract

Partial graphitization of carbon nanofibers by high-temperature heat treatment can give improved composite properties. The intrinsic electrical conductivity of the bulk carbon nanofibers measured under compression is maximized by giving the fibers an initial heat treatment at 1500 °C. Similarly, for carbon nanofiber/polypropylene composites containing up to 12 vol% fiber, initial fiber heat treatments near 1500 °C give tensile modulus and strength superior even to composites made from fibers graphitized at 2900 °C. However, optimum composite conductivity is obtained with a somewhat lower heat-treatment temperature, near 1300 °C. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) along with x-ray diffraction (XRD) explains these results, showing that heat treating the fibers alters the exterior planes from continuous, coaxial, and poorly crystallized to discontinuous nested conical crystallites inclined at about 25° to the fiber axis.

Keywords

CompositeElectrical propertiesNanoscale
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 21 , Issue 10 , October 2006 , pp. 2646 - 2652
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Tibbetts, G.G., Doll, G.L., Gorkiewicz, D.W., Moleski, J.J., Perry, T.A., Dasch, C.J., Balogh, M.P.: Physical properties of vapor-grown carbon fibers. Carbon 31, 1039 (1993).Google Scholar
2.Koyama, T.: Formation of carbon fibers from benzene. Carbon 10, 757 (1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Finegan, I.C., Tibbetts, G.G.: Electrical conductivity of vapor-grown carbon fiber/thermoplastic composites. J. Mater. Res. 16, 1668 (2001).Google Scholar
4.Science and Application of Nanotubes, edited by Tománek, D. and Enbody, R.J., (Kluwer, New York, 2000), p. 46.Google Scholar
5.Watt, W., Johnson:, W. in Proc. of the 3rd Conf. on Industrial Carbon and Graphite, edited by Gregory, J.G. and Rawlins, C.J. (Society of Chemical Industry, London, 1971) p. 417.Google Scholar
6.Gordeyev, S.A., Macedo, F.J., Ferreira, J.A., van Hattum, F.W.J., Bernardo, C.A.: Transport properties of polymer-vapour grown carbon fibre composites. Physica B (Amsterdam) 279, 33 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Bernardo, C.A., Gordeyev, S.A., Ferreira, J.A. Tensile, electrical and thermal properties of vapour grown carbon fibre/thermoplastic composites, edited by Biro, L.P., Bernardo, C.A., Tibbetts, G.G., and Lambin, P. (NATO ASI Series Carbon Filaments and Nanotubes: Common Origins, Differing Applications? Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2001), p. 301.Google Scholar
8.Tibbetts, G.G., McHugh, J.J.: Mechanical properties of vapor-grown carbon-fiber composites with thermoplastic matrices. J. Mater. Res. 14, 2871 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Howe, J.Y., Rawn, C.J., Jones, L.E., Ow, H.: Improved crystallographic data for graphite. Powder Diffr. 18, 150 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Howe, J.Y., Burchell, T.D., Lake, M.L. A study of graphitization of vapor grown carbon nanofibers using high-resolution TEM (Carbon '01, Beijing, China, 2001), (unpublished).Google Scholar
11.Finegan, I.C., Tibbetts, G.G., Glasgow, D.G., Ting, J-M., Lake, M.L.: Surface treatments for improving the mechanical properties of carbon nanofiber/thermoplastic composites. J. Mater. Sci. 38, 3485 (2003).Google Scholar