Carbon fibre morphology

Motojima S, Kawaguchi M, Nozaki K (1991) Preparation of coiled carbon fibres by catalytic pyrolysis of acetylene, and its morphology and extension characteristics. Carbon 29(3) 379-385... 

Although considerable research effort has been applied to the chemistry of carbon fibres, little is of relevance to the inorganic chemist. Even those structural investigations which have been carried out are primarily concerned with the morphology of the fibres rather than their detailed molecular structures. ... 

Hollow core carbon fibres were also prepared from heterogeneous Ugnin-poly(propylene) blends, whose morphology was generated by the selective thermal ablation of the polyolefin [68]. 

Fitzer E, Frohs W, Heine M, Optimization of stabilization and carbonization treatment of PAN fibers and structural characterization of the resulting carbon fibers. Carbon, 24(4), 387-395, 1986. Jain MK, Abhiraman AS, Conversion of acrylonitrile-based precursor fibres to carbon fibres. Part 1 A review of the physical and morphological aspects, J Mater Sci, 22, 278-300, 1987. 

Jain MK, Abhiraman AS, Conversion of acrylonitrile-based precursor fibres to carbon fibres. Part 1 A review of the physical and morphological aspects, J Mater Sci, 22, 278-300, 1987. 

Donnet JB, Ehrburger P, Carbon fibre in polymer reinforcement. Carbon, 15, 143-152, 1977. Dauksys RJ, Graphite fiber treatments which affect fiber surface morphology and epoxy bonding characteristics, J Adhesion, 5, 211-244, 1973. 

Yuan LY, Chen CS, Shyu SS, Lai JY, Plasma surface treatments on carbon fibres. 1. Morphology and surface analysis of plasma etched fibres. Composites Sci Technol, 45(1), 1-7, 1992. Commercon P, Wightman JP, Surface characterization of plasma treated carbon fibres and adhesion to a thermoplastic pol5mer, J Adhesion, 38(1-2), 55-78, 1992. 

Blundell DJ, Chalmers JM, MacKenkie MW, Gaskin WF, Crystalline morphology of the matrix of PEE carbon fibre aromatic polymer composites. Part 1 Assessment of crystallinity, SAMPE Quarterly, 16(4), 22-30, 1985. 

Gao SL, Kim JK, Interphase morphology and fibre pull-out behaviour of carbon fibre PEEK composites. Key Eng Mater, 145(1,2), 811-816, 1998. 

Kumar S, Anderson DP, Crasto AS, Carbon-fibre compressive strength and its dependence on structure and morphology, J Mater Sci, 28(2), 423-439, 1993. 

Optimisation of morphology of polyimide-silica hybrids in the production of matrices for carbon fibre. High Perform. Polym., 13, 1. 

Varga, J. and Karger-Kocsis, J. (1995) Interfacial morphologies in carbon fibre-reinforced polypropylene microcomposites. Polymer, 36, 4877-4881. 

Preferred orientation of the polymer carbon can be achieved by preorientation of the chain molecules in the polymer precursor fibre. Polyacrylonitrile has been proved as the most suitable and economic precursor. This thermoplastic polymer, however, needs a cross-linkage treatment before carbonization to preserve the fibre morphology. Simultaneously, cyclization of the side chains and dehydrogenation occur resulting in nuclei for the formation of the planar polyaromatic layers... 

At the first view, therefore, a carbon fibre made from mesophase pitch seems to be a contradiction itself. The solution of this problem may be seen in the stabilization treatment of the fibre after spinning which is not only necessary for conservation of the fibre morphology during subsequent heat treatment (the same as with the thermoplastic PAN) but also for crosslinkages between the preformed polyaromatic compounds, by which formation of graphitizing carbon should be inhibited. Thus again, the stabilization treatment in air... 

Carbon fibres exhibit rather poor adhesion to matrix polymers, so it is usual to carry out oxidative treatments of various t3qjes to modify the morphology and chemical structure at the surface, in particular to increase its polarity and introduce reactive groups. Such treatments greatly improve the adhesion as measured, for example, by the interlaminar shear stress. 

Figure 7 SEM micrographs showing the typical morphology of vapour-grown carbon fibres (courtesy of M. Endo)...

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