Study on the Fabrication of Carbon Nanotube - Mesocarbon Microbead Composites

Abstract

Carbon nanotube-Mesocarbon microbead composites were synthesized from coal tar pitch with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as additive. The effect of CNTs addition and process parameters on the growth and morphologies of Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) was investigated. The results show that adding CNTs enhances the nucleation and inhibits the growth and coalescence of MCMBs. Under the same thermal condensation conditions, the MCMBs made in the presence of CNTs tend to have smaller size, lower yield and more uniform size distribution, but more CNTs can lead to poor spherical degrees. Compared with the raw CNTs, the CNTs treated with blended acid can achieve better sphere and more uniform MCMBs with increasing CNTs ratio.