High strength monolithic carbon foam
View Patent ↗A carbon foam article useful for, inter alia, composite tooling or other high temperature applications, which includes a carbon foam having a ratio of compressive strength to density of at least about 7000 psi/g/cc.
1. A carbon foam article comprising a carbon foam having a compressive strength of at least about 2000 psi, a ratio of compressive strength to density of at least about 7000 psi/g/cc and a bimodal pore distribution wherein at least about 90% of the pore volume comprises pores having a diameter of between about 15 and about 95 microns and at least about 1% of the pore volume of the pores have a diameter of between about 0.8 and about 3.5 microns, and further wherein the carbon foam has a liquid permeability of no greater than about 3.0 darcys.
2. The article of claim 1 wherein the carbon foam has a ratio of compressive strength to density of at least about 8000 psi/g/cc.
3. The article of claim 2 wherein the carbon foam has a density of from about 0.05 to about 0.4 g/cc.
4. The article of claim 3 wherein the carbon foam has a porosity of between about 65% and about 95%.
5. The article of claim 4 wherein the pores of the carbon foam have, on average, an aspect ratio of between about 1.0 and about 1.5.
6. The article of claim 1 wherein from about 2% to about 10% of the pore volume of the pores have a diameter of about 1 to about 2 microns.
7. A carbon foam article comprising a carbon foam having a compressive strength of at least about 2000 psi, the carbon foam having a pore distribution such that at least about 90% of the pore volume of the pores have a diameter of between about 10 and about 95 microns and at least about 1% of the pore volume of the pores have a diameter of between about 0.8 and about 3.5 microns, wherein the carbon foam has a liquid permeability of no greater than about 3.0 darcys.
8. The article of claim 7 wherein at least about 95% of the pore volume of the pores have a diameter of between about 25 and about 95 microns.
9. The article of claim 8 wherein from about 2% to about 10% of the pore volume of the pores have a diameter of about 1 to about 2 microns.
10. The article of claim 7 wherein the carbon foam has a ratio of compressive strength to density of at least about 7000 psi/g/cc.
11. The article of claim 10 wherein the carbon foam has a ratio of compressive strength to density of at least about 8000 psi/g/cc.
12. The article of claim 11 wherein the carbon foam has a density of from about 0.05 to about 0.4 g/cc.
13. The article of claim 12 wherein the carbon foam has a porosity of between about 65% and about 95%.
14. The article of claim 13 wherein the pores of the carbon foam have, on average, an aspect ratio of between about 1.0 and about 1.5.
15. The article of claim 1 wherein the carbon foam is formed from a phenolic foam starting material.
16. The article of claim 7 wherein the carbon foam is formed from a phenolic foam starting material.