There is a clear need for high-strength, lightweight composites with improved electrical conductivity. Composites fabricated from intercalated graphite fiber show promise in satisfying that need. This research focused on the chemical aspects of fiber intercalation, stability of intercalated fibers and their relation to the mechanical and electrical properties of their epoxy composites. Early work on this project helped pin down the mechanism of formation of so-called acceptor compounds of graphite as one of oxidation by election transfer to highly electrophylic species. We then established that, at least in the prototype graphite nitrate, neutral species could be removed under vacuum, and that these labile acid species must be removed before stable composites could be prepared from the intercalated fiber. In addition, we studied the kinetics of nitric acid intercalation of graphite fiber and powder and highly ordered pyrolytic graphite and offerred a proposed mechanism based on crystallite size. Epoxy composites were fabricated from graphite fiber intercalated with nitric acid.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Graphene-Polymer Composites" that was published in Polymers

'The field of carbon materials is huge and often difficult to comprehend, but this book is easy to read and methodically covers the subject, including presenting materials properties and performance data with clear illustrations and graphs. References include relevant older and up-to-date sources of information. The book is tutorial style in nature and is an excellent resource for senior undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and anyone who wants to learn more about carbon and incorporate carbon materials into new applications.'MRS BulletinElemental carbon materials take numerous forms including graphite, carbon fiber, carbon nanotube, graphene, carbon black, activated carbon, fullerene and diamond. These forms differ greatly in the structure, properties, fabrication method, and applications. The applications of these carbon forms include electronic, electromagnetic, electrochemical, environmental and biomedical applications. Carbon materials are a subject of intense research, with strong relevance to both science and technology.This book provides a tutorial-style and up-to-date coverage of the carbon forms. In addition to an introductory chapter on carbon materials, the book includes chapters on graphite, graphene, carbon black, activated carbon, carbon fibers, and carbon nanofibers/nanotubes. For example, the chapter on graphite covers various materials in the graphite family, including polycrystalline graphite, pyrolytic graphite, turbostratic carbon, intercalated graphite, graphite oxide, exfoliated graphite and flexible graphite, in addition to their electronic and mechanical properties.This book is suitable for use as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in science and engineering, and as a reference book for professionals. It is dedicated to the memory of the author's PhD thesis advisor, Professor M S Dresselhaus (1930-2017) of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In order to understand the electrical and mechanical property changes which occur when graphite fibers are intercalated, it is essential that a better understanding of the properties of the fibers prior to intercalation be developed. Research aimed at elucidating the structure-property relationships in neat carbon and graphite fibers is presented. In particular, the changes with increasing heat treatment in both electronic and structural properties are discussed. The relative importance of crystallite size, three dimensional order, and the details of disordered regions between crystallites are demonstrated by analysis of: resistance versus temperature; piezoresistance; x-ray diffraction; and intercalation behavior. Crystallite size effects must be included in order to understand the electronic structure of the fibers studied here. Arguments which demonstrate the potential importance of the disordered regions between crystallites to the anamolous resistance-temperature behavior of low-modulus, high-strength fibers are presented. Three dimensional order is shown to increase continously with heat treatment. The piezoresistance of carbon and graphite fibers is discussed in terms of a simple polycrystalline model, and useful qualitative information on the parameters needed for modelling the elastic properties of these material is obtained.

This book discusses the methods synthesizing various carbon materials, like graphite, carbon blacks, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. It also details different functionalization and modification processes used to improve the properties of these materials and composites. From a geometrical–structural point of view, it examines different properties of the composites, such as mechanical, electrical, dielectric, thermal, rheological, morphological, spectroscopic, electronic, optical, and toxic, and describes the effects of carbon types and their geometrical structure on the properties and applications of composites.

Under this contract a study has been carried out on the electronic, lattice, magnetic, structural, and thermal transport properties of intercalated graphite, including the modeling of these properties. The research program being carried out under this grant has been directed toward gaining an increased and fundamental understanding of the properties of graphite intercalation compounds in order to be able to produce better materials with more controlled physical properties. By using diverse experimental techniques it is possible to correlate and interrelate the electronic, lattice, structural, magnetic and thermal transport properties of intercalated graphite and to interpret the dependence of these properties on the stage of the intercalation compound. During the two year period of this contract major advances have been made in each of these areas. Particularly noteworthy is the use of high resolution electron microscopy to monitor the c-axis and in-plane ordering on an atomic scale. Using single crystal Kish graphite host material, we have found evidence for large regions of defect-free single phase intercalant superlattices with dimensions of at least one order of magnitude greater than expected on the basis of previous work. A major advance has been made in the use of high resolution x-ray scattering to study structural phase transitions in the graphite-bromine system. Work on superconducting compounds has been initiated.

The progress of materials science depends on the development of novel materials and the development of novel experimental techniques. The research on graphite intercalation compounds combines both aspects: new compounds with strikingly new and anisotropic properties have been synthesized and analyzed during the past couple of years by means of state-of-the-art experimental methods. At the same time, the preparation of the compounds already known has improved con siderably, giving increased reliability and reproducibility of the experimental results. The high quality experimental data now available have stimulated theo retical work. Moreover, the theoretical work has had a great impact on further experimental studies, with the effect of a much improved understanding of this class of materials. This volume is dedicated to a thorough description of all relevant experimen tal and theoretical aspects of the structural and dynamical properties of graphite intercalation compounds. Because of the large number of topics, a second vol ume, which is now in preparation, will follow and will treat the electronic, transport, magnetic, and optical properties. The second volume will also contain a chapter on applications of graphite intercalation compounds. There have been a number of reviews written on selected aspects of these compounds in various journals and conference proceedings during the last couple of years, but this is the first comprehensive review since the thorough overview provided by M.S. Dresselhaus and G. Dresselhaus appeared ten years ago.

Carbon Fibers presents an up-to-date review of the progress pertaining to the formation of carbon fibers from rayon, acrylic, and pitch precursors. The book emphasizes the preparation, characterization, and properties of commercial materials. It also considers the compressive properties of carbon fibers, the lack of correlation between surface characterization and fiber-matrix interactions, and the discrepancy between surface composition as determined by XPS and the reaction of surface groups with chemical reagents. Other topics discussed include: