Carbon fibers from kerosene

Abstract

Different kinds of carbon fibers (3 - 4 mu m phi) were grown from the pyrolysis of commercial kerosene at 1000 degrees C for 2 h in argon atmosphere. These products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) analyses. Kerosene-pyrolyzed fibers differ from those obtained from other precursors. To our knowledge, this is the first time that (i) carbon fibers are produced from kerosene and (ii) conducting carbon fibers as long as 7 cm are produced from the pyrolysis of any hydrocarbon. The method is very simple and inexpensive, compared with conventional techniques for carbon fiber fabrication.