CARBONLETT, vol. 24, no. 1, pp.28-35, 2017

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5714/CL.

Catalytic hydrogenation-assisted preparation of melt spinnable pitches from petroleum residue for making mesophase pitch based carbon fibers

Dong Hun Lee¹, Jisu Choi², Young Se Oh², Yoong Ahm Kim^3,♠, Kap Seung Yang^3,♠, Ho Jin Ryu⁴ and Yong Jung Kim⁵

Affiliation: ¹Multi-Material Research Center, Korea Automotive Technology Institute, Gwangju 62207, Korea
²Chemical & Polymer Lab, R&D Center, GS Caltex Corporation, Daejeon 34122, Korea
³Department of Polymer Engineering, Graduate School, School of Polymer Science and Engineering & Alan G. MacDiarmid Energy Research Institute, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Korea
⁴Department of Nuclear & Quantum Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
⁵Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea

Abstract: We demonstrated an effective way of preparing melt spinnable mesophase pitches via catalytic hydrogenation of petroleum residue (fluidized catalytic cracking-decant oil) and their subsequent thermal soaking. The mesophase pitches thus obtained were analyzed in terms of their viscosity, elemental composition, solubility, molecular weight, softening point and optical texture. We found that zeolite-induced catalytic hydrogenation under high hydrogen pressure contributed to a large variation in the properties of the pitches. As the hydrogen pressure increased, the C/H ratio decreased, and the solubility in n-hexane increased. The mesophase pitch with entirely anisotropic domains of flow texture exhibited good melt-spinnability. The mesophase carbon fibers obtained from the catalytically hydrogenated petroleum residue showed moderate mechanical properties.

Keyword: petroleum residue, hydrogenation, mesophase pitch, spinnability, carbon fiber