The Influence of Post-Cure on Properties of Carbon/Phenolic Resin Cured Composites and Their Final Carbon/Carbon Composites

摘要

Two-dimensional (2D) carbon/carbon (C/C) composites were prepared with phenol-formaldehyde resin and graphite fabric. After curing, polymer composites were post-cured in air at 160 deg C and 230 deg C. The effect of post-cure on the microstructure and fracture behavior of the resultant carbon/carbon composites was studied. The post-cure process was characterized by weight loss. This process promoted the crosslinking and condensation reactions and led to the formation of long-chain, cross-curing time and higher post-curing temperature would limit the shrinkage for the post-cured composites during carbonization. The improvement in linear shrinkage was 22% to 44%. This process also limited the formation of open pores and decreased the weight loss of the resultant C/C composites. The resultant C/C composites developed from post-cured composites had a greater flexural strength by 7 to 26% over that developed from unpost-cured composite.