Study of Different Types of Carbon Fiber Oxidation Kinetics

Abstract

Results are given for a study of the effect of treatment temperature on oxidation kinetics of carbon fibers of different structure. It is detected that carbon fiber oxidation by oxygen depends on the production process for fiber manufacture, and as a consequence on the nature of its structure, primarily the degree of crystallinity that governs the number of active centers emerging as oxidation initiators. It is established that oxidation of carbon fibers with a relatively low treatment temperature (up to 2000°C) is approximated by an autocatalytic reaction mechanism.