Characterization of Intercalated Graphite Fibers for Microelectromechanical Systems Applications

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Research was accomplished to characterize the electrical and physical characteristic changes of the Thornelr P-100 carbon fiber when intercalated with 96 % sulfuric acid. This research incorporated the use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures for testing purposes. MEMS were used to allow the testing of carbon fibers in an isolated micro-scale environment with mathematically proven physical models. The MEMS structures simplified the mathematics to characterize the carbon fibers’ physical movement. Six fiber variants were tested during this research. The original fiber was one of the samples and was desized at 400 C for 30 minutes in air. The rest of the fibers came from the desized original fiber and were modified in different ways. Three lengths of fiber tow were oxidized in 1 M nitric acid at 0.5 Amps for 30 seconds, 1 minute, and 2 minutes. Two other samples were detreated at 1150 C in a vacuum for one hour prior to their nitric acid treatments of 1 and 2 minutes. Sulfuric acid is a very corrosive agent and reacts to most materials. Throughout this research, that has been the key issue.