Comparative Study of the Modification of Coal Tar Pitch for Higher Carbonization Yield and Better Properties

Parent coal tar pitch (CTP) was modified with boric acid (BA), cinnamaldehyde (CMA) and the mixture of BA and CMA, respectively. The parent CTP and three modified CTPs were characterized by elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The four samples were carbonized at different temperatures and resultant carbonized products were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and polarized-light microscopy. The results show that the morphologies and carbonization behaviors of the parent CTP and modified CTPs are quite different. The carbonization yield of the CTP modified with the mixture of BA and CMA is higher than that of CTP modified with BA or CMA only. In addition, the modification of CTP with 7 g of BA and 10 ml of CMA results in an increase in carbonization yield by 5.64%. During the pyrolysis of modified CTPs, the dehydration of BA or the distillation of CMA occurs at the temperature lower than 300 °C, and methyl and methylene groups of the modified CTPs disappear gradually as temperature rises. Furthermore, the modification of CTP by the mixture of BA and CMA results in more intensive mesophase spheres than other modified CTPs, and the modified CTP is easier to be carbonized to form graphitic carbon.