Characterization of Carbon/Carbon Composites by Kinetic Deconvolution Analysis for a Thermal Oxidation Process: An Examination Using a Series of Mechanical Pencil Leads

Abstract

The thermal behaviors of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites in flowing air were investigated on the basis of mechanical pencil leads with different hardness values and diameters as a model system. Two separated mass-loss processes were observed during heating the mechanical pencil leads in air, which are attributed to the evaporation–decomposition of an impregnation agent and the subsequent thermal oxidation of the residual C/C composite. The thermal behaviors were invariant among the mechanical pencil leads with different diameters, but they systematically changed with hardness. Variations in the thermal behaviors can be quantified by the mass-loss value during the evaporation–decomposition of the impregnation agent, in addition to the kinetic deconvolution analysis that was applied to the multistep thermal oxidation process of carbon components with different reactivities. These results correlate the thermal behavior with the compositional and structural characteristics of C/C composites, which can be usefu...