Effect of Processing Pressure on the Properties of Graphite Foam

摘要

Graphite foam samples were prepared by heating mesophase pitch at different processing pressures followed by carbonization and graphitization under inert atmosphere. These samples were characterized for density, surface morphology and thermal conductivity. Microstructure of the samples indicate that processing pressure controls the evolution of volatiles from mesophase pitch to create a structure having optimum pore size, ligament thickness and junctions, which all are responsible for physical and thermal properties of resultant graphite foam. The study reveals that there is a relationship between processing pressure and the final density & thermal conductivity.