Aluminum Precipitation to the Surface of Carbon Fiber with the Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Process

In this work, the formation of Al thin film on the surface of the carbon fiber with chemical vapor deposition of tri-isobutyl aluminum (TIBA) was studied. Experiments were conducted to clarify the effects of TIBA evaporation temperature, argon flow as carrier gas, reaction pressure and temperature on aluminum precipitation rate to the surface of pitch type carbon fiber.The results obtained indicated that the aluminum precipitation rate is accelerated (1) as the rate of argon flow increases under the condition of constant reaction pressure, (2) as the reaction pressure increases under the conditions of the constant argon flow, and (3) as the reaction temperature rises. This implies that the precipitation rate of aluminum depends on the gas velocity, the soluble gas concentration and the reaction temperature. The relatively high pressure makes the film structure rough, while the relatively low pressure makes it smooth.