Sugar-Derived Nanocrystalline Graphite Matrix C/C Composites with Excellent Ablative Resistance at 3000 °C.

Zhang, Wenzheng; Tan, Mingyi; Chen, Daming; Sun, Boqian; Cheng, Yuan; Xun, Liancai; Hu, Jingsheng; Hou, Chenlin et al. · Adv Mater · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Sugars are renewable resources essential to human life, but they are rarely used as raw materials for the industrial production of carbon-based materials, especially for the preparation of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon-matrix (C/C) composites, which are extremely useful for the semiconductor and aerospace sectors. Herein, a method utilizing sugar-derived carbon to replace petrochemicals as dense matrix to preparing C/C composites is reported. The matrix from sugar-derived C/C (S-C/C) composites has a nanocrystalline graphite structure that is highly thermally stable and effectively bonded to the carbon fibers. The mechanical properties of the S-C/C composite are comparable to those prepared from petrochemical sources; significantly, it exhibits a linear ablation rate of 0.03 mm s<sup>-1</sup> after 200 s of ablation at 3000 °C in 10 MW m<sup>-2</sup> heat flux. This new class of S-C/C is promising for use in a broad range of fields, ranging from semiconductor to aerospace.