The interpretation of X-ray diffraction from the pyrocarbon in carbon/carbon composites with comparison of TEM observations

Three different carbon/carbon (C/C) composites based on needle-punched felt made of layered T700 carbon fiber cloth were fabricated by chemical vapor infiltration and were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The TEM observations show that one of the composites contains only low-textured pyrocarbon. The other two contain both low-textured and high-textured pyrocarbon, one with predominantly low-textured and the other with mainly high-textured pyrocarbon. High-resolution TEM images show that the high-textured pyrocarbon in the two composites has the same microstructure as local areas with the graphite structure. XRD measurements show that the interlayer spacing and crystallite size of pyrocarbon are not only affected by the poorly graphitized carbon fiber phase, but also by the amounts of the different types of pyrocarbon and the orientation of crystallites. Comparison of the TEM observations and the XRD measurements reveals that structural parameters, such as the interlayer spacing and crystallite size, of pyrocarbon in C/C composites as determined by XRD are not accurate. Therefore, XRD profiles of C/C composites should be interpreted with caution. TEM observations for detailed microstructure analysis of C/C composites are thus important.