PREPARATION OF CONDUCTIVE CARBON-CERAMIC COMPOSITES FROM COAL-TAR PITCH AND CERAMIC MONOLITHS

Conductive carbon-ceramic composites have been prepared from coal tar pitch and a ceramic already molded as a monolith having a honeycomb st ructure. The material has been obtained by subjecting both components to a heat treatment in N-2 to a maximum temperature of either 1073 K o r 1273 K. The starting ceramic and the composites have been characteri zed by scanning electron microscopy, EDX, thermogravimetry and X-ray d iffraction. Conductivity measurements and electrochemical behavior hav e been also carried out. The results obtained reveal that the highest conductivities are obtained in those samples heated to the maximum tem perature studied. Stability towards oxygen increases with treatment te mperature, reaching the samples treated to 1273 K for 2 hours, a gasif ication temperature similar to the graphite material studied. Addition ally, the composites exhibit a high electrochemical stability that mak es these materials very promising to be used as electrodes and/or as e lectrocatalysts support. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.