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Insights into the thermal history of carbon fibers using Raman spectroscopy and a novel kinetic model

  • Composites & nanocomposites
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Abstract

Carbon fibers and carbon fiber composites are applied in high-performance applications, but a key consideration for application is their relative sensitivity to oxidative environments. To enable in-situ characterization of carbon fibers exposed to oxidative conditions, the Raman spectral response of T700 carbon fibers that have been exposed to a variety of dwell temperatures is reported herein with dwell times reaching up to 1 month. We evaluate the spectra holistically by using integrated absolute difference analysis. By combining this analysis with straightforward kinetic models, we connect the total Raman spectral response to the temperature-time curve that could yield such a shift in spectral parameters. Our work connects the Raman spectral response of carbon fibers to their thermal history and can easily be extended to other graphitic materials, such as nuclear graphite.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the US Department of Energy. The authors thank S. Isbill and X. Zhou for critical review of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Zach E. Brubaker, Andrew Miskowiec & Jennifer L. Niedziela

Authors
  1. Zach E. Brubaker
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  2. Andrew Miskowiec
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  3. Jennifer L. Niedziela
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Contributions

ZEB was contributed to conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, software, supervision, validation, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. AM was contributed to funding acquisition, resources, writing—review and editing. JLN was contributed to funding acquisition, resources, supervision, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Zach E. Brubaker.

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Brubaker, Z.E., Miskowiec, A. & Niedziela, J.L. Insights into the thermal history of carbon fibers using Raman spectroscopy and a novel kinetic model. J Mater Sci 58, 7613–7619 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08512-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08512-5

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