A transformation of naphthalene-based coalescenced mesophase pitch(NMP)to mesophase microbeads was achieved by heating a mixture of NMP and fullerene(C_(60)).This is different from the conventional process of the liquid-phase carbonization of isotropic pitch to the emergence of carbon microbeads in the matrix and finally their growth to form a 100%anisotropic bulk meso-phase,but rather a reverse transformation.The effects of C_(60) loading and reaction temperature on the morphological transformation of mesophase were investigated by polarizing optical and scanning electron microscopies.The physical changes in the NMP induced by C_(60) were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray diffractometry and Raman spectroscopy.The results show that the coalesced NMP can be converted to a spherical type at 300-320℃ with the addition of 5%C_(60),and the size of the mesophase microbeads increases with increasing temperature.Furthermore,a model is established to ex-plain the unique induction effect of C_(60) in the transformation process.This work makes the morphological transformation of MP con-trollable,and provides a new idea for the understanding and research of mesophase pitch.
Because of its high purity and excellent orientation, mesophase pitch is a superior precursor for high-performance car-bon materials. However, the preparation of top-notch mesophase pitch faces challenges. Catalytic polycondensation at low temperat-ures is more favorable for synthesizing mesophase pitch, because it circumvents the high-temperature free radical reaction of other thermal polycondensation approaches. The reaction is gentle and can be easily controlled. It has the potential to significantly im-prove the yield of mesophase pitch and easily introduce naphthenic characteristics into the molecules, catalytic polycondensation is therefore a preferred method of synthesizing highly spinnable mesophase pitch. This review provides a synopsis of the selective pre-treatment of the raw materials to prepare different mesophase pitches, and explains the reaction mechanism and associated research advances for different catalytic systems in recent years. Finally, how to manufacture high-quality mesophase pitch by using a cata-lyst-promoter system is summarized and proposed, which may provide a theoretical basis for the future design of high-quality pitch molecules.
