To enhance mechanical properties through improvement of dispersion stability of carbon black (CB) in epoxy resins, fluorine functional groups were introduced on the CB surface by fluorination. The changes in the chemical properties and dispersion stabilities after fluorination were evaluated with different partial pressures of fluorine gas. The mechanical properties of the fluorinated CB/epoxy composites were evaluated by the test of tensile, impact strengths and creep behavior. The fluorinated CB/epoxy composites showed approximately 1.6 and 1.1 times enhancement in the tensile and impact strengths compared to that of neat epoxy, respectively. Moreover, when a constant load was applied at 323 K, the fluorinated CB/epoxy composites lasted longer and had smaller strain changes than those of the raw CB/epoxy composites. Thus, well-dispersed CB by fluorination in epoxy resins effectively transfers mechanical stress.

After flame-retardant treatment by the two different agents, the thermal behaviors of Lyocell fibers are discussed. In this research, H3PO4 and NaCl reduced the degradation rate and increased the char yield of the Lyocell fibers, and also increased the limiting oxygen index with the char yield increased. After treatment, the integral procedure decomposition temperature and the activation energy of Lyocell fibers are significantly increased by various concentration factors. These phenomena were indicated by the dehydration, rearrangement, formation of carbonyl groups, the evolution of carbon monoxide and dioxide, and carbonaceous residue formation. These effects were indicating the slow pathway of flame retardancy for the Lyocell fibers and are attributed to the two different flame-retardant agent treatments.

Activated carbon fiber (ACF) surfaces are modified using an electron beam under different aqueous solutions to improve the NO gas sensitivity of a gas sensor based on ACFs. The oxygen functional group on the ACF surface is changed, resulting in an increase of the number of non-carbonyl (-C-O-C-) groups from 32.5% for pristine ACFs to 39.53% and 41.75% for ACFs treated with hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide solutions, respectively. We discover that the NO gas sensitivity of the gas sensor fabricated using the modified ACFs as an electrode material is increased, although the specific surface area of the ACFs is decreased because of the recovery of their crystal structure. This is attributed to the static electric interaction between NO gas and the non-carbonyl groups introduced onto the ACF surfaces.