High modulus pitch based carbon fibers (HM) were exposed to isothermal oxidation using tube furnace in carbon dioxide gas to study the oxidation kinetics under the temperature of 800-1100℃. The kinetic equation f=1--(-atb) was introduced and the constant b was obtained in the range of 1.02~1.42. The oxidation kinetics were evaluated by the reaction-controlling regime (RCR) depending upon the apparent activation energies with the conversion increasing from 0.2 to 0.8. The activation energies decrease from 24.7 to 21.0 kcal/mole with the conversion increasing from 0.2 to 0.8, respectively. According to the RCR, the reaction was limited by more diffusion controlling regime for the HM fibers with the conversion increasing. Therefore, it seems that the oxidation which is under the diffusion controlling regime takes place continuously from the skin to the core of the fiber.

• Jae-Seung Roh(School of Advanced Materials and System Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology 1)