Effect of Ti content on microstructure and performance of carbon foam derived from mesophase pitch

A novel carbon foam was prepared from mixtures of mesophase pitch and titanium powder by the traditional process including foaming, carbonization and graphitization. Investigation was carried out to determine the effect on the structure and properties of the carbon foams through the addition of titanium to carbon foams. Results have shown that Ti can promote more perfect and larger crystallites and enhance the conductive/mechanical properties of carbon foams. The high thermal conductivity of 61.89 W/m K was obtained with an addition of 12 wt% Ti at heat treatment temperature of 2573 K. At the same time, the correlations between microstructure and properties are also discussed.