Low Temperature Pyrocarbon : a review

Xavier Bourrat (1) , Francis Langlais (2) , Georges Chollon (2) , Gérard L. Vignoles (2)

1 ISTO - Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans
2 LCTS - Laboratoire des Composites Thermostructuraux

This article is a synthetic survey of the recent researches in the field of pyrocarbons. Pyrocarbon is the form of carbon which deposits on hot surfaces above 900°C by cracking of hydrocarbons. Applications are in the fields of composite materials, nuclear reactors or biomaterials. Very recently, an important step was reached concerning the understanding of the growth processes. A classification of the low temperature pyrocarbons is introduced. It is based on the measure of carbon defects and anisotropy, using Raman spectroscopy. It provides a comprehensive relationship between growth mechanisms, structure and properties of pyrocarbons.

Keywords: pyrocarbon; Raman spectroscopy; anisotropy; transmission electron microscopy

Domains: Mineralogy

Xavier Bourrat, Francis Langlais, Georges Chollon, Gérard L. Vignoles. Low Temperature Pyrocarbon : a review. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, 2006, 17, pp.1090-1095. ⟨hal-00092046⟩