Development of Asphaltene Derived Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoset Composites for Structural Applications
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Carbon fiber is renowned for its outstanding specific strength and stiffness, excellent thermal stability, corrosion resistance, and superior fatigue performance, making it an ideal reinforcement material for polymer composites in both structural and functional applications. In this study, carbon fibers were synthesized from a low-cost precursor, asphaltene, a heavy fraction derived from Alberta oil sands bitumen. The performance of these asphaltene derived carbon fibers (ACFs) was evaluated in thermoset resin composites to explore their potential for structural use. In the first chapter, two grades of ACFs were developed to target different application needs: one carbonized at 1200°C (ACF-1200) with a tensile modulus of approximately 35 GPa and an elongation of 1.4%, and another carbonized at 600°C (ACF-600) with a tensile modulus of about 12 GPa and an elongation of 2.3%. Both fiber types without sizing were incorporated into a thermoset epoxy matrix in a unidirectional configuration via compression molding with a 40wt% fiber content. Mechanical tests were carried out to evaluate the reinforcing efficiency of ACFs. Tensile, flexural and impact properties were tested for the composite structures. Incorporation of unsized ACF-1200 significantly enhanced the mechanical performance of the epoxy composites, with tensile strength and modulus increasing by approximately 82% and 227%, while flexural strength and modulus improved by around 80% and 243%, respectively, compared to neat epoxy. The incorporation of 40 wt% unsized ACF-600 (2.3% elongation) also improved the impact resistance of epoxy composites by 77% relative to neat epoxy. When used in hybrid laminates with commercial carbon fiber (CCF) mats, ACFs further enhanced the impact performance of CCF composites by 19%. In the second chapter, a commercial epoxy compatible sizing was applied to the ACF-1200 surface to enhance the interfacial compatibility with the resin matrix. I optimized the sizing level and performed Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and contact angle (CA) to test the effectiveness of sizing. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) confirmed higher stiffness, improved thermal stability, and better fiber–matrix interfacial compatibility. Furthermore, surface sizing treatment provided additional improvements, with flexural strength and modulus increasing by 11% and 7%, and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) showing an 18% enhancement. I also observed less fiber pull outs and interfacial gap for the SEM images of fractured surfaces of composites as compared to unsized ACF-1200 composites which reflects the effectiveness of the sizing application. Overall, these results demonstrate that asphaltene, an abundant byproduct of oil sands processing, can serve as a sustainable and cost-effective precursor for carbon fiber production. The resulting ACFs show strong potential for lightweight, high-performance composite applications across structural and functional sectors.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".