Morphology influence of the oxidation kinetics of carbon nanofibers

This paper reports the stability and oxidation rate of five types of carbon nanofiber (CNF) with distinctly different orientation of their graphite sheets based on conversion to CO2 when heated in the presence of oxygen. A non-isothermal technique was used to determine the oxidation kinetic parameters including the activation energy (Ea). Graphite shows a similar activation energy (Ea = 158 kJ/mol−1) to CNF with longitudinal alignment (Ea = 156 kJ/mol−1). CNF type herringbone (Ea = 126 kJ/mol−1) and platelet (Ea = 145 kJ/mol−1) show the lowest oxidation resistance which improved dramatically after a heat treatment at 3023 K of the herringbone (Ea = 216 kJ/mol−1) and platelet (Ea = 174 kJ/mol−1) structures.