Reinforcements of Petroleum Distillation Products with Carbon Nanotubes and Vapour Grown Carbon Fibres for the Development of Carbon Nanocomposites

Abstract

This study reports the synthesis of nanocomposites based on coal tar pitch, a carbon based material retrieved as residue during fractional distillation of petroleum reinforced by multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and vapour grown carbon fibre (VGCF). With 10% wt. carbon nanotubes slight improvement in flexural strength and modulus is observed, while thermal conductivity increases marginally with 5% wt. carbon nanotubes. However significant improvement of more than 100% in bending strength is observed in vapour grown carbon fibre compounded pitch resin post graphitization at 10% wt. loading as compared to neat resin indicating better load transfer between two phases. Scanning electron micrograph shows that vapour grown carbon fibre are well dispersed in pitch matrix resin. However increasing filler content leads to agglomeration of fibres and voids in the matrix resin.