Crosslinking chemistry of curing carbon composites containing novolac/furfuryl alcohol resins and carbon black or mesophase pitch as additives

► Carbon black homogeneously distributed in the composites, and modified the structure distribution and chain motions of the binders. ► Mesophase pitch was likely to participate in the curing reactions of the resin phase to form crosslink network structures through the whole system with phase-structural heterogeneity on a very small scale ∼2 nm.