• Carbon letters
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• v.1 no.3_4
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• pp.158-164
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• 2001

It is well known that the fabrication process of carbon/carbon composites is very complex. Above all, the carbonization process have major effect on the morphology development of carbon matrix. Carbon/carbon composites of 4-directional fiber preform were fabricated using the coal tar based pitch as a matrix precursor in this study. According to carbonization pressure of 1 bar, 100 bar, 600 bar, and 900 bar, morphological changes of cokes and matrix of composites were discussed. As the carbonization pressure increased to 600 bar, the flow pattern morphology of bulk mesophse was well developed. On the contrary, mosaic pattern morphology was found in case of 900 bar of carbonization pressure. It is confirmed that the carbonization pressure have profound effect on the degree of graphitization and crystal size of carbon matrix. Even in the highly densified carbon/carbon composites, large voids were still found in the matrix pocket region.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.25-28
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• 2003

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs), since their first discovery, have been considered as new promising materials in various fields of applications including field emission displays, memory devices, electrodes, NEMS constituents, hydrogen storages and reinforcements in composites due to their extra-ordinary properties. The carbon nanotube reinforced nanocomposites have attracted attention owing to their outstanding mechanical and electrical properties and are expected to overcome the limit of conventional materials. Various application areas are possible for carbon nanotube reinforced nanocomposites through the functionalization of carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotube reinforced polymer matrix nanocomposites have been fabricated by liquid phase process including surface functionalization and dispersion of CNTs within organic solvent. In case of carbon nanotube reinforced polymer matrix nanocomposites, the mechanical strength and electrical conducting can be improved by more than an order of magnitude. The carbon nanotube reinforced polymer matrix nanocomposites can be applied to high strength polymers, conductive polymers, optical limiters and EMI materials. In spite of successful development of carbon nanotube reinforced polymer matrix nanocomposites, the researches on carbon nanotube reinforced inorganic matrix nanocomposites show limitations due to a difficulty in homogeneous distribution of carbon nanotubes within inorganic matrix. Therefore, the enhancement of carbon nanotube reinforced inorganic nanocomposites is under investigation to maximize the excellent properties of carbon nanotubes. To overcome the current limitations, novel processes, including intensive milling process, sol-gel process, in-situ process and spark plasma sintering of nanocomposite powders are being investigated. In this presentation, current research status on carbon nanotube reinforced nanocomposites with various matrices are reviewed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1151-1158
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• 1997

Fracture of uni-directional carbon fiber reinforced carbon matrix composite is strongly dependent on the orientation of basal plane in graphite matrix when it is limited within matrix. The orientation of basal planes are vertically stacked to carbon fiber which results in the weakness for applied tensile or shear force in thermosetting resin derived-carbon matrix composite. Microtextural control of the matrix was tried through chemical interaction between metal carbides and furan resin derived-carbon matrix. SiC and TiO2 addition made the orientation disordered. However, porosity increased due to decomposition of SiC. Interfacial bonding could be controlled by TiO2 addition, but carbon fiber was considerably reacted with TiC during thermal treatment higher than 2$600^{\circ}C$. Therefore, it is desirable to control the thermal treatment temperature at which decomposition of SiC was not serious and TiC/C was not formed eutectoid.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.365-369
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• 2015

This paper investigates the dependency of the critical content for electrical conductivity of carbon powder-filled polymer matrix composites with different matrixes as a function of the carbon powder content (volume fraction) to find the break point of the relationships between the carbon powder content and the electrical conductivity. The electrical conductivity jumps by as much as ten orders of magnitude at the break point. The critical carbon powder content corresponding to the break point in electrical conductivity varies according to the matrix species and tends to increase with an increase in the surface tension of the matrix. In order to explain the dependency of the critical carbon content on the matrix species, a simple equation (${V_c}^*=[1+ 3({{\gamma}_c}^{1/2}-{{\gamma}_m}^{1/2})^2/({\Delta}q_cR]^{-1}$) was derived under some assumptions, the most important of which was that when the interfacial excess energy introduced by particles of carbon powder into the matrix reaches a universal value (${\Delta}q_c$), the particles of carbon powder begin to coagulate so as to avoid any further increase in the energy and to form networks that facilitate electrical conduction. The equation well explains the dependency through surface tension, surface tensions between the particles of carbon powder.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.27-30
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• 2004

Carbon nanotube reinforced alumina matrix nanocomposite was fabricated by sol-gel process and followed by spark plasma sintering process. Homogeneous distribution of carbon nanotubes within alumina matrix can be obtained by mixing the carbon nanotubes with alumina sol and followed by condensation into gel. The mixed gel, consisting of alumina and carbon nanotubes, was dried and calcinated into carbon nanotube/alumina composite powders. The composite powders were spark plasma sintered into carbon nanotube reinforced alumina matrix nanocomposite. The hardness of carbon nanotube reinforced alumina matrix nanocomposite was enhanced due to an enhanced load sharing of homogeneously distributed carbon nanotubes. At the same time, the fracture toughness of carbon nanotube reinforced alumina matrix nanocomposite was enhanced due to a bridging effect of carbon nanotubes during crack propagation.

• Carbon letters
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.173-180
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• 2005

In this study, AR (aromatic resin) pitch was employed as the matrix-precursor for carbon/carbon composite because it exhibits much higher coke yield than coal tar pitch. As a result, a fabrication process of carbon/carbon composites can be shortened. It has been known that the pitches may cause swolling problem during the carbonization process. In order to restrain the swelling occurrence, a small quantity of carbon black was added to the AR pitch. Due to addition of carbon black the swelling was decreased largely and the perform can be infiltrated with the AR pitch. The densification efficiency of the performs was compared with various matrix-precursors. The coke yield of matrixprecursors, the morphology and the degree of graphitization of carbon matrix were analyzed.

• Carbon letters
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• v.19
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• pp.57-65
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• 2016

Isroaniso matrix precursor synthesized from commercially available petroleum pitch was stabilized in air. The influence of oxygen mass gain during stabilization on the yield of matrix precursor was studied. Additionally, the influence of pressure on the yield of the stabilized matrix precursor in a real system was studied. The fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), yield, yield rate, and yield impact were used to check the effect of stabilization and pressure on the yield of the matrix precursor and the end properties of the composite thereafter. The results showed that the yield increased with stabilization duration up to 20 h whereas it decreased for stabilization duration beyond 20 h. Further results showed that the stabilized matrix precursor for a duration of 5 h could withstand almost two-fold greater hot-pressing pressure without resulting in exudation as compared to that of a 1 h stabilized matrix precursor. The enhanced hot-pressing pressure significantly improved the yield of the matrix precursor. As a consequence, the densification and mechanical properties were increased significantly. Further, the matrix precursor stabilized for a duration of 20 h or more failed to provide proper and uniform binding of the reinforcement.

• Carbon letters
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2000

In this work, the carbon fibers-reinforced carbon matrix composites made with different carbon char yields of phenolic resin matrix have been characterized by mechanical flexural tests for acoustic emission properties. The composites had been fabricated in the form of two-dimensional polyacrylonitrile based carbon fibers during the carbonization process. It was found that the composites made with the carbon char yield-rich of resin matrix result in better mechanical interfacial properties, i.e., the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the composites. The data obtained from the acoustic emission monitored appeared to show that the composites made with carbon char yield-rich were also more ductile. From the acoustic emission results, the primary composite failure was largely depended on the debonding at interfaces between fibers and matrix. The interlaminar shear strengths of the composites were correlated with the acoustic emission results.

• Carbon letters
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.192-197
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• 2002

Microstructure plays an important role in controlling the fracture behaviour of carbon-carbon composites and hence their mechanical properties. In the present study effort was made to understand how the different interfaces (fiber/matrix interactions) influence the development of microstructure of the matrix as well as that of carbon fibers as the heat treatment temperature of the carbon-carbon composites is raised. Three different grades of PAN based carbon fibres were selected to offer different surface characteristics. It is observed that in case of high-strength carbon fiber based carbon-carbon composites, not only the matrix microstructure is different but the texture of carbon fiber changes from isotropic to anisotropic after HTT to $2600^{\circ}C$. However, in case of intermediate and high modulus carbon fiber based carbon-carbon composites, the carbon fiber texture remains nearly isotropic at $2600^{\circ}C$ because of relatively weak fiber-matrix interactions.

• Carbon letters
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• v.19
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• pp.47-56
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• 2016

In this study, the fracture behavior of a thermoplastic-modified epoxy resin reinforced with continuous carbon fibers for two levels of fiber-matrix adhesion was performed. A carbon fiber with commercial sizing was used and also treated with a known silane, (3-glycidoxy propyl trimethoxysilane) coupling agent. Toughness was determined using the double cantilever test, together with surface analysis after failure using scanning electron microscope. The presence of polysulfone particles improved the fracture behavior of the composite, but fiber-matrix adhesion seemed to play a very important role in the performance of the composite material. There appeared to be a synergy between the matrix modifier and the fiber-matrix adhesion coupling agent.