Co-carbonization behavior of petroleum pitch/graphene oxide: Influence on structure and mechanical property of resultant cokes

- Co-carbonization method was used for preparing the cokes of petroleum pitch/GO.
- The thermal stability of mesophase pitch/GO is inhibited by the content of GO.
- Composites with appropriate GO content exhibit an excellent mechanical property.

By adding graphene oxide (GO) into petroleum pitch, mesophase pitch/GO composites were obtained via liquid dispersion and co-carbonization method. The results show that the mesophase development of the petroleum pitch/GO mixture was obviously changed during the heat treatment and the anisotropic texture was flow domain when the GO content was 0.03 wt%. The interlayer spacing of the heat treatment products was reduced firstly, and then increased with increasing GO content. Moreover, the thermal stability of the precursor of mesophase pitch/GO composites is higher than that of the heat treatment product of the petroleum pitch. The mass ratio of GO to the petroleum pitch plays an important role in the mechanical properties of the composites. The bending strength of the mesopahse pitch/GO composites first increased and then decreased with the increase of the proportion of GO. When the GO content was 0.03 wt%, the bending strength of the composites reached to the maximum of 81.5 MPa.