Carbon fiber phenolic resins

Choi, M.H., Jeon, B.H., and Chung, l.J. (2000) The effect of coupling agent on electrical and mechanical properties of carbon fiber/phenolic resin composites. Polymer 41, 3243-3252. 

Kim Y A, Kamio S, Tajiri T, Hayashi T, Song S M, Endo M, Terrones M and Dresselhaus M S (2007), Enhanced thermal conductivity of carbon fiber/phenolic resin composites by the introduction of carbon nanotubes , Appl Phys Lett, 90, 093125(1)-093125(3). 

It is interesting to note that if a short term exposure to a hot environment is required, (e.g. a missile part with operating conditions such as 15 min exposure at 400°C, or 1 min at 540°C), a carbon fiber phenolic composite would be the preferred choice, since phenolic resins would have higher thermal/oxidative stabilities than, say PMR-15 or other polyimides and would be cheaper and easier to process. 

Porous carbon composite support (TFC) with high surface area is obtained by decomposition and carbonization of phenolic resin mixed with graphite fiber. ... 

Lin, R. Y. and Economy, J., Preparation and properties of activated carbon fibers derived from phenolic resin precursor, Appl. Polym. Symp., 1973, 21, 143 152. 

Oya, A., Yoshida, S., Abe, Y., Iizuka, T. and Makiyama, N., Antibacterial activated carbon fiber derived from phenolic resin containing silver nitrate, Carbon, 1993, 31(1), 71 73. 

Most carbon fibers use PAN as their precursor however, other polymer precursors, such as rayon [8], pitch (a by-product of petroleum or coal-coking industries), phenolic resins, and polyacetylenes [6,7], are available. Each company usually uses different precursor compositions for its products and thus it is difficult to know the exact composition used in most commercially available carbon fiber products. 

One typical example of carbon/carbon composite plates is that made by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the United States [12]. The composite preform was fabricafed by a slurry-molding process from fhe mixed slurry befween short carbon fibers (graphite fibers were also added in some sample plates) and fhe phenolic resin. The mass rafio between fiber reinforcement and phenolic matrix is 4 3. The phenolic matrix improves the mechanical properties and dimensional stability of the plate. A subsequent vacuum molding process was utilized to fabricate composite plates and fluid fields with relatively high resolution (Figure 5.3, [11]). 

The primary resin of interest is epoxy. Carbon-fiber-epoxy composites represent about 90% of CFRP production. The attractions of epoxy resins are that they polymerize without the generation of condensation products that can cause porosity, they exhibit little volumetric shrinkage during cure which reduces internal stresses, and they are resistant to most chemical environments. Other matrix resins of interest for carbon fibers include the thermosetting phenolics, polyimides, and polybismaleimides, as well as high-temperature thermoplastics such as polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyethersulfone (PES), and polyphenylene sulfide. 

Carbon Composites. Cermet friction materials tend to be heavy, thus making the brake system less energy-efficient. Compared with cermets, carbon (or graphite) is a thermally stable material of low density and reasonably high specific heat. A combination of these properties makes carbon attractive as a brake material and several companies are manufacturing carbon fiber—reinforced carbon-matrix composites, which are used primarily for aircraft brakes and race cars (16). Carbon composites usually consist of three types of carbon carbon in the fibrous form (see Carbon FIBERS), carbon resulting from the controlled pyrolysis of the resin (usually phenolic-based), and carbon from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) filling the pores (16). 

---