Slurry Molding Technologies for Novel Carbon and Graphite Materials
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a slurry molding technology for the manufacture of porous, high surface area, carbon fiber composites molecular sieves, and carbon-carbon composite preforms. Potentially, this technology could be applied to the manufacture of a host of novel carbon materials including porous adsorbent carbons, low-pressure drop adsorbent carbon composites, ultra-fine-grained graphite, and carbon fiber reinforced graphite. New opportunities for high surface carbon fiber composite molecular sieve (CFCMS) materials are now emerging. Many of these opportunities are driven by increasingly harsh environmental pressures. Traditional granular activated carbon (GAC) is not suitable for many of these applications because of the difficulties encountered with attrition and in forming ''structures'' which have the necessary mechanical and physical properties. In addition, the electrical desorption of adsorbed species is not possible with GAC due to its low bulk electrical conductivity. Activated carbon fibers have been found to be useful in some applications. Work by ORNL has shown, for example, that CFCMS materials are capable of adsorbing various gases and desorbing them under electrical stimulation. For some applications these fibers have to be formed into a structure that can offer the desired mechanical integrity and pressure drop characteristics. To date, the work by ORNL has focused on the use of a single manufacturer's isotropic pitch fibers which, when activated, may be cost prohibitive for many applications. Fine-grained graphite is attractive for many applications including the chemical processing industry where their unique combination of properties--including high strength and chemical inertness, are particularly attractive. However, a lack of toughness can limit their utility in certain applications. The use of ultra-fine powders in conjunction with slurry molding and hot pressing offers the possibility of higher strength graphite. Moreover, the inclusion of carbon fibers may provide a toughening mechanism, resulting in tougher, stronger graphite at an attractive cost. The objective of this work was to further develop the ORNL slurry molding technology and apply it to the following tasks: (1) the development of low cost, high surface area CFCMS materials and structures; (2) the development of ultra-fine-grained graphite; and (3) to identify suitable applications for the materials developed in (1) and (2). The work was conducted jointly by SGL and ORNL.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 885612
- Report Number(s):
- C/ORNL02-0643; TRN: US200617%%86
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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