The Influence of Thermal Processing on the Properties of Carbon Fibers Based on Polyoxadiazole

Abstract

The influence of heat treatment on the properties of carbon fibers based on polyparaphenylene-1,3,4-oxadiazole was studied. Dependences of mass loss, shrinkage, linear density and electrical resistance of carbon fibers on the final heat treatment temperature were obtained. It is shown that a decrease in the heating rate leads to an increase in the carbon residue and the linear density of fibers, and a decrease in shrinkage and electrical resistance. It was found that at a final heat treatment temperature of 900 °C for a heating rate of 5 °C/min, the volume resistivity of the elemental carbon fiber material is 2.8 ± 0.2 mΩ.cm. Increasing the final heat treatment temperature and reducing the heating rate leads to an increase in the uniformity of the distribution of electrical resistance along the fiber.