Stabilization of pitch-based carbon fibers accompanying electron beam irradiation and their mechanical properties

Abstract

Carbon fibers are prepared by stabilizing pitch fibers accompanying electron beam (E-beam) irradiation. The carbon fibers pretreated by E-beam irradiation achieve a higher stabilization index than the carbon fibers that are only heat-stabilized. In addition, the carbon fibers subjected to E-beam irradiation in the stabilization step exhibit a comparable tensile strength to that of general purpose carbon fibers. The carbon fibers pretreated with an absorbed dose of 3000 kGy have a tensile strength of 0.54 GPa for a similar fiber diameter. Elemental, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses indicate that Ebeam irradiation is an efficient oxidation and dehydrogenation treatment for pitch fibers by showing that the intensity of the aliphatic C?H stretching and aromatic CH2 ben