Study of the influence of thermal treatment parameters of polyfurfuryl resin on the morphological, structural, and electrical conductivity characteristics of reticulated vitreous carbon

ABSTRACT

Reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) is a carbon material, rich in carbon atoms linked by sp² bonds, obtained by the thermal treatment (TT) of carbonization (at least 1000 ºC, under inert atmosphere) of thermoset resins. It can be obtained by different methodologies, usually through the use of sacrifice material, which degrades during TT and generates transport pores. This work aimed to evaluate the influence of different threshold times (2, 8, 12, 24, and 36 h) at 1000 ºC on the structural, morphological, and electrical conductivity characteristics of RVC samples obtained from a polyurethane foam (PU, sacrifice material), impregnated with polyfurfuryl alcohol resin (PFA). The PU/PFA foam was characterized by infrared spectrophotometry with Fourier transform (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analyzes and CVR samples by X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrical conductivity by 2 points. The FT-IR and XRD results confirm the conversion of PU/PFA foam to RVC, with a carbon yield of ~44%. The XRD analyzes also show changes in the structural ordering of the RVC samples due to the different threshold times, due to the probable expulsion of heteroatoms still present in the carbon material structure. The electrical conductivity measurements corroborate this observation, with a significant increase after 8 h of threshold (from 1.71 x 10^-1 to 1.17 x 10⁴ S.cm^-1), as a consequence of the decrease of defects in the RVC structure. The micrographs show the alveolar structure of the PU/PFA foam, rich in transport pores, which are preserved in the RVC after carbonization.

Keywords
Polymeric foam; Reticulated vitreous carbon; Shot blasting microspheres; Heat treatment Polyfurfuryl alcohol resin