Today, the modification of carbon foam for high performance remains a major issue in the environment and energy industries. One promising way to solve this problem is the optimization of the pore structure for desired properties as well as for efficient performance. In this study, using a sol-gel process followed by carbonization in an inert atmosphere, hollow spherical carbon foam was prepared using resorcinol and formaldehyde precursors catalyzed by 4-aminobenzoic acid; the effect of carbonization temperature and re-immersion treatment on the pore structure and characteristics of the hollow spherical carbon foam was investigated. As the carbonization temperature increased, the porosity and average pore diameter were found to decrease but the compression strength and electrical conductivity dramatically increased in the temperature range of this study (700˚C to 850˚C). The significant differences of X-ray diffraction patterns obtained from the carbon foams carbonized under different temperatures implied that the degree of crystallinity greatly affects the characteristics of the carbon form. Also, the number of re-impregnations of carbon form in the resorcinol-formaldehyde resin was varied from 1 to 10 times, followed by re-carbonization at 800˚C for 2 hours under argon gas flow. As the number of re-immersion treatments increased, the porosity decreased while the compression strength improved by about four times when re-impregnation was repeated 10 times. These results imply the possibility of customizing the characteristics of carbon foam by controlling the carbonization and re-immersion conditions.

Carbon material shows relatively high strength at high temperature in vacuum atmosphere and can be easily removed as CO or gas in oxidation atmosphere. Using these characteristics, we have investigated the applicability of carbon mold for precision casting of high melting point metal such as nickel. Disc shape carbon mold with cylindrical pores was prepared and Ni-base super alloy (CM247LC) was used as casting material. The effects of electroless Nickel plating on wettability and cast parameters such as temperature and pressure on castability were investigated. Furthermore, the proper condition for removal of carbon mold by evaporation in oxidation atmosphere was also examined. The SEM observation of the interface between carbon mold and casting materials (CM247LC), which was infiltrated at temperature up to , revealed that there was no particular product at the interface. Carbon mold was effectively eliminated by exposure in oxygen rich atmosphere at for 3 hours and oxidation of casting materials was restrained during raising and lowering the temperature by using inert gas. It means that the carbon can be applicable to precision casting as mold material.

Nickel powders were synthesized by the hydrazine reduction of nickel chloride solution containing ammonia in DEA solutions. The size distribution of nickel powders were investigated as a function of ammonia concentration, hydrazine concentration and the mixed composition ratio of diethanolammine (DEA) and triethanolammine (TEA). Nickel powders with the size in submicron range were obtained at for 45 minutes by hydrazine reduction of nickel chloride solution in DEA solutions. The hydrazine concentrations showed significant effects on the particle size and shape distribution of nickel powders under molar ratio of 2.0 condition. As the mixed volume ratio of TEA and DEA increased, nickel powders with relatively larger particle size and low agglomeration were obtained. Nickel powders with particle size in the ranged from 0.4 to were obtained at the 50 of TEA.