Preparation and structure analysis of nano-iron/mesocarbon microbeadcomposites made from a coal tar pitch with addition of ferrocene

摘要

Nano-iron/mesocarbon microbead composites have been synthesized from a coal tar pitch by heating at415 °C with ferrocene under pressure. The resulting composites were characterized using the combinedtechniques including SEM, TEM, XRD and EDS. The effect of ferrocene addition on the growth andstructure of mesocarbon microbeads was discussed. It was found that nano-iron particles were of sizes10-40 nm and mainly existed in the form Fe-O and Fe_(1-x)S. The iron particles, which had dispersedhomogeneously in pristine and carbonized spheres, accelerated the nucleation and growth of spheresand consequently enhanced the structural ordering of spheres. The addition of ferrocene introduced atendency to order in the microtexture of spheres.