Carbon composites and methods of manufacture

1. A method of manufacturing a carbon composite, the method comprising:

pressing a composition comprising expanded graphite and a binder at a temperature of about 350° C. to about 1200° C. and a pressure of about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi to form the carbon composite first pressure lower than a predetermined maximum pressure and at a first temperature lower than a predetermined maximum temperature; and

pressing the composition at the predetermined maximum temperature and the predetermined maximum pressure to form the carbon composite, the predetermined maximum temperature being about ±20° C. to about ±100° C. of the melting point of the binder;

wherein the binder is selected from the group consisting of SiO 2 , Si, B, B 2 O 3 , a metal, an alloy of the metal, and a combination thereof; and

the metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, titanium, nickel, tungsten, chromium, iron, manganese, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, molybdenum, tin, bismuth, antimony, lead, cadmium, selenium, and a combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises about 20 to about 95 wt. % of the expanded graphite and about 5 to about 80 wt. % of the binder.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binder has a size of about 0.05 to about 10 microns.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition further comprises carbon fibers, carbon black, mica, clay, glass fiber, ceramic fibers, ceramic hollow structures, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition is pressed at the predetermined maximum temperature and the predetermined maximum pressure for about 5 to about 120 minutes.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition is heated by direct current heating, induction heating, microwave heating, spark plasma sintering, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compressing is conducted in a mold to form a bar, block, sheet, tubular, cylindrical billet, or toroid comprising the carbon composite.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising machining or shaping the carbon composite to form a bar, block, sheet, tubular, cylindrical billet, or toroid.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising milling the carbon composite to form a powder.

10. A method of manufacturing a carbon composite,

the method comprising:

forming a compact by pressing a composition comprising expanded graphite and a binder; and

heating the compact to form the carbon composite;

wherein the binder is selected from the group consisting of SiO 2 , Si, B, B 2 O 3 , a metal, an alloy of the metal, and a combination thereof; and

the metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, titanium, nickel, tungsten, chromium, iron, manganese, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, molybdenum, tin, bismuth, antimony, lead, cadmium, selenium, and a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the composition comprises about 20 to about 95 wt. % of the expanded graphite and about 5 to about 80 wt. % of the binder.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the binder has a size of about 0.05 to about 10 microns.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the composition further comprises carbon fibers, carbon black, mica, clay, glass fiber, ceramic fibers, ceramic hollow structures, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein forming the compact comprises pressing the composition at a pressure of about 500 psi to about 10 ksi and a temperature of about 20° C. to about 200° C.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein forming the compact comprises pressing the composition so that a volume of the compact relative to a volume of the composition is about 40% to about 80%.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the heating is conducted at a temperature of about 350° C. to about 1200° C. and a pressure of about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein heating the compact comprises:

pressing the compact at a first pressure lower than a predetermined maximum pressure and at a first temperature lower than a predetermined maximum temperature; and

pressing the compact at the predetermined maximum temperature and the predetermined maximum pressure.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the predetermined maximum temperature is about ±20° C. to about ±100° C. of the melting point of the binder.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the compact is pressed at the predetermined maximum temperature and the predetermined maximum pressure for about 5 to about 120 minutes.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the compact is heated by direct current heating, induction heating, microwave heating, spark plasma sintering, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

21. The method of claim 14 , wherein compressing the compact comprises pressing the compact so that a volume of the carbon composite relative to a volume of the compact is about 10% to about 70%.

22. The method of claim 10 , wherein forming the compact is conducted at room temperature and a pressure of about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the heating is conducted at atmospheric pressure.

24. The method of claim 10 , wherein the compact is compressed in a mold to form a bar, block, sheet, tubular, cylindrical billet, or toroid comprising the carbon composite.

25. The method of claim 10 , further comprising machining or shaping the carbon composite to form a bar, block, sheet, tubular, cylindrical billet, or toroid.

26. The method of claim 10 , further comprising milling the carbon composite.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binder comprises an alloy of nickel or an alloy of iron.

28. The method of claim 10 , wherein the binder comprises an alloy of nickel or an alloy of iron.