Characterization of Activated Carbon Fibers

Abstract

Low-temperature electrical conductivity and Raman scattering are studied as characterization tools for activated carbon fibers, which have a high density of defects and a huge specific surface area. The transport mechanism at low temperature is governed by variablerange hopping, as in other strongly disordered systems. From the Raman spectra obtained, we deduce that the long phenolic fibers are more disordered than the acrylic fibers and that increased specific surface area corresponds to increased disorder. The average in-plane microcrystallite size is about 20–30 Å.