Potential stiffness of carbon fibres produced from highly crystalline cellulose

The potential stiffness of carbon fibers using resin beam technique from highly crystalline cellulose was investigated. Tunicate cellulose samples were obtained in sheet form and pyrolysed at 800° Centigrade in an oven. This material, from non- pyrolysed and pyrolysed sources was dispersed into a cold-curing two-part epoxy resins and then smeared onto a pre-prepared beam of the same material. The spectra obtained from pure tunicate material were found to be typical for cellulose-I, with a clear and intense peak located at 1095 cm -1. The positions of the 1095cm -1 band in the non-pyrolysed tunicate and the 1580 cm -1 G-band in the pyrolysed samples were found to shift towards a lower wavenumber. The shift rate with respect to strain, in polymeric materials such as cellulose, were found to be proportional to the fiber modulus. It was found that high stiffness can be obtained from pyrolysed cellulose whiskers, such as tunicate.