FORMATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF VAPOR GROWN CARBON-FIBERS PREPARED IN LINZ-DONAWITZ CONVERTER GAS

The formation of vapor grown carbon fibers by the floating catalyst method was studied using an exhausted ps from a Linz-Donawitz converter, instead of high purity hydrogen. Linz-Donawitz converter gas (LDG), of which the composition was 67% CO, 16% CO2,15% N2, 1.2% H2, 0.2% 02, and 0.6% H2O, was confirmed to be useful as a carrier gas after purification by removing catalyst poisons such as water and oxygen, especially oxygen, contained in as-received LDG. The fibers formed in purified LDG were found to have an excellent graphitizability compared with those prepared in hydrogen, and to have rough surfaces.