The effect of a chemical vapor deposited carbon film from acetylene on the properties of graphitized PAN-based carbon fibers

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers (CFs) were coated with carbon film by chemical vapor deposition using acetylene as precursor. The morphologies of the as-received and modified CFs were observed using SEM and AFM, and their mechanical properties, crystalline parameters, and electrical conductivity were measured after graphitization. It was found that the graphitized CFs that were prepared showed excellent mechanical properties (2 GPa for strength and 270 GPa for modulus) and good electrical conductivity (5×10−4 Ωcm) compared with the unmodified ones.