Description of terms:
- MESOPHASE PITCH is a PITCH with a complex mixture of numerous, essentially aromatic hydrocarbons containing anisotropic liquid crystalline particles, detectable by opical microscopy and capable of coalescence into the BULK MESOPHASE.
- MESOPHASE PITCH BASED CARBON FIBERS are CARBON FIBERS obtained from MESOGENIC PITCH after it has been transformed into MESOPHASE PITCH at least during the process of spinning, after the spun MESOPHASE PITCH fibers have been made non-fusible and carbonized.
- NATURAL GRAPHITE is a mineral found in nature. It consists of GRAPHITIC CARBON, regardless of its crystalline perfection.
- NON-GRAPHITIC CARBONS are all varieties of solids consisting mainly of the element carbon with two-dimensional long range order of the carbon atoms in planar hexagonal networks, but without any measurable crystallographic order in the third direction apart from more or less parallel stacking.
- NON-GRAPHITIZABLE CARBON is a NON-GRAPHITIC CARBON which cannot be transformed into GRAPHITIC CARBON solely by high temperature treatment up to 3300K under atmospheric or lower pressure.
- PAN BASED CARBON FIBERS are CARBON FIBERS obtained from polyacrylonitrile precursor fibers by STABILIZATION TREATMENT, CARBONIZATION and final heat treatment.
- PETROLEUM PITCH is a residue from heat treatment and distillation of petroleum fractions. It is a solid at room temperature, consists of a complex mixture of numerous, predominantly aromatic and alkyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbons, and exhibits a broad softening range instead of a defined melting temperature.
- PITCH is a residue from the pyrolysis of organic material or tar distillation, which is solid at room temperature, consisting of a complex mixture of numerous, essentially aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic compounds. It exhibits a broad softening range instead of a defined melting temperature. When cooled from the melt, pitches solidify without crystallization.
- PITCH-BASED CARBON FIBERS are CARBON FIBERS obtained from PITCH precursor fibers after STABILIZATION TREATMENT, CARBONIZATION, and final heat treatment.
- POLYCRYSTALLINE GRAPHITE is a GRAPHITE MATERIAL with coherent crystallographic domains of limited size regardless of the perfection and preferred orientation of their crystalline structure.
- POLYGRANULAR CARBON is a CARBON MATERIAL composed of grains, which can be clearly distinguished by means of optical microscopy.
- POLYGRANULAR GRAPHITE is a GRAPHITE MATERIAL composed of grains, which can be distinguished by means of optical microscopy.
- PYROLYTC CARBON is a CARBON MATERIAL deposited from gaseous hydrocarbon compounds on suitable underlying substrates at temperatures ranging 1000-25000K.
- PYROLYTIC GRAPHITE is a GRAPHITE MATERIAL with a high degree of preferred crystallographic orientation of the c-axis perpendicular to the surface of the substrate, obtained by GRAPHITIZATION HEAT TREATMENT of PYROLYTIC CARBON or by chemical vapor deposition at temperatures above 2500K. Note: Pyrographite is a trademark and should not be used as a term.
- RAYON-BASED CARBON FIBERS are CARBON FIBERS made from rayon precursor fibers.
- RHOMBOHEDRAL GRAPHITE is a thermodynamically unstable allotropic form of GRAPHITE with an ABCABC stacking sequence of the layers.
- SOOT is a randomly formed PARTICULATE CARBON material and may be coarse, fine, and/or colloidal in proportions, depending on its origin. SOOT consists of variable quantities of carbonaceous and inorganic solids, together with absorbed and occluded tars and resins.
- SYNTHETIC GRAPHITE is a material consisting of GRAPHITIC CARBON which has been obtained by graphitizing of NON-GRAPHITIC CARBON by chemical vapor deposition from hydrocarbons at temperatures above 2500K, by decomposition of thermally unstable carbides, or by crystallizing from metal melts supersaturated with carbon.
- THERMAL BLACK is a special type of CARBON BLACK produced by pyrolysis of gaseous hydrocarbons in a preheated chamber in the absence of air.