Pores carbon/graphite

The product of this process can be modified in many ways. It can be made impervious by impregnation or its pores may be filled with metal such as in motor and generator brushes. It must be appreciated that by choice of raw materials and processing it is possible to produce a wide range of carbons, carbon/graphites and electro-graphites. The physical properties shown in Table 18.1 are thus to be taken only as broadly representative. 

Most commonly, the battery will be configured with a stack of bipolar cells (10 -100 cells per stack) to give a useful output voltage and with parallel flows for the electrolytes to each of the cells in the stack. Hence, the electrodes will be bipolar with a solid core from carbon, graphite, or a carbon/polymer composite and the three-dimensional elements bonded or pressed onto either side of the solid core. The composites are a blend of a chemically stable polymer and a micron-scaled carbon powder, most commonly an activated carbon Radford et al. [127] have considered the influence of the source of the carbon and the chemical and thermal treatments on the properties of such activated carbons, especially the pore size and distribution [126]. Even though reticulated vitreous carbon has been used for the three-dimensional elements [117], the predominant materials are graphite cloths or felts with a thickness of up to 5 mm, and it is clear that such layers are essential to scale the current density and thereby achieve an acceptable power density. Details of electrode performance in the more developed flow batteries are not available but, for example, Skyllas-Kazacos et al. [124] have tabulated an overview of the development of the all vanadium redox flow battery that includes the electrode materials and the chemical and thermal treatments used to enhance activity and stability. 

The activation is a key process to prepare graphitized activated carbons, which includes the process of complicate chemical reactions between activator and the carbon materials. The main role of activation is further extension of the original pores, formation of new pores as well as coahtion and connection between pores based on the pores of graphitized carbon. Therefore, the graphitized carbon products with larger specific surface area and more reasonable distribution of aperture would be obtained by activation. 

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 ate used primarily for aircraft brakes and race cats (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 phenoHc-based), and carbon from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) filling the pores (16). 

Industrial carbon anodes and artificial graphites are not a single material but are rather members of a broad family of essentially pure carbon. Fortunately, artificial graphites can be tailored to vary widely in their strength, density, conductivity, pore structure, and crystalline development. These attributes contribute to their widespread applicability. Specific characteristics are imparted to the fmished product by conti ollmg the selection of precursor materials and the method of processing [19]... 

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