Morphological characterization of microcellular carbon foams

Low-density, microcellular carbon foams have been prepared by the high temperature degradation of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) foams in an inert atmosphere. The PAN foams are first prepared by controlled phase separation of PAN solutions followed by solvent removal. Some possible applications for low-density, microcellular carbon foams are: catalyst supports, adsorbents, porous electrodes, high temperature structural insulation, and in the fabrication of inertial confinement fusion targets. To effectively design and use these carbon foams, it is necessary to characterize their morphology. In this paper, we describe two techniques which are well suited to characterize microcellular carbon foam morphologies. 3 refs., 1 fig.