Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers (CFs) and their composites, CF-reinforced plastics, have garnered significant interest as promising structural materials owing to their excellent properties and lightweight. Therefore, various processing technologies for fabricating these advanced materials using thermal energy have been intensively investigated and developed. In most cases, these thermal energy-based processes (heat treatment) are energy and time consuming due to the inefficient energy transfer from the source to materials. Meanwhile, advanced processing technologies that directly transfer energy to materials, such as radiation processing, have been developed and applied in several industrial sectors since the 1960s. Herein, general aspects of radiation processing and several key parameters for electron-beam (e-beam) processing are introduced, followed by a review of our previous studies pertaining to the preparation of low-cost CFs using specific and textile-grade PAN fibers and improvements in the mechanical and thermal properties of CF-reinforced thermoplastics afforded by e-beam irradiation. Radiation processing using e-beam irradiation is anticipated to be a promising method for fabricating advanced carbon materials and their composites.

In this study, activated carbon with well-developed mesopores was fabricated using kenaf short fibers as a representative biomass. Concentrated phosphoric acid was selected as an activation agent to create highly developed porous structures, and pore development was observed to occur in relation to the weight ratio of phosphoric acid and kenaf. The pore characteristics of the kenaf-based activated carbon were determined using the N2/ 77K adsorption isotherm, and its microcrystalline structure was analyzed using X-ray diffraction. The highest specific surface area (1570 m2/g) was observed when the weight ratio of phosphoric acid to kenaf was 3:1, and the highest mesopore fraction (74%) was observed at 4:1. The carbonization yield was 45–35%, which is higher than that of commercial activated carbon. The production of porous carbon material by this method offers high potential for application because it can be controlled over a wide range of average pore diameter from 2.48 to 5.44 nm.

The prime objective of this research was to study the influence of hot-pressing pressure and matrix-to-reinforcement ratio on the densification of short-carbon-fiber-reinforced, randomly oriented carbon/carbon-composite. Secondary objectives included determination of the physical and mechanical properties of the resulting composite. The ‘hybrid carbon-fiberreinforced mesophase-pitch-derived carbon-matrix’ composite was fabricated by hot pressing. During hot pressing, pressure was varied from 5 to 20 MPa, and reinforcement wt% from 30 to 70. Densification of all the compacts was carried at low impregnation pressure with phenolic resin. The effect of the impregnation cycles was determined using measurements of microstructure and density. The results showed that effective densification strongly depended on the hot-pressing pressure and reinforcement wt%. Furthermore, results showed that compacts processed at lower hot-pressing pressure, and at higher reinforcement wt%, gained density gradually during three densification cycles and showed the symptoms of further gains with additional densification cycles. In contrast, samples that were hot-pressed at moderate pressure and at moderate reinforcement wt%, achieved maximum density within three densification cycles. Furthermore, examination of microstructure revealed the formation of cracks in samples processed at lower pressure and with low reinforcement wt%.

This study highlights a novel method and mechanism for the rapid and effective milling of carbon fibers (CFs) in silicon carbide (SiC) powder, and also the dispersion of CFs in SiC powder. The composite powders were prepared by chopping and exfoliation of CFs, and ball milling of CFs and SiC powder in isopropyl alcohol. A wide range of CFs loading, from 10 to 50 vol%, was studied. The milling of CFs and SiC powder was checked by measuring the average particle size of the composite powders. The dispersivity of CFs in SiC powder was checked through scanning electron microscope. The results show that the usage of exfoliated CF tows resulted in a rapid and effective milling of CFs and SiC powder. The results further show an excellent dispersion of CFs in SiC powder for all CFs loading without any dispersing agent.