Effects of additives on preparation of mesocarbon microbeads

Four types of mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) were prepared from coal tar pitch heat-treated at 420°C for 2 h with carbon black, sulfur, aluminum chloride and p-toluene sulphonic acid as additive, respectively, the effects of these four additives on preparation of MCMB have been studied. The results indicate that carbon black, aluminum chloride and p-toluene sulphonic acid are helpful for preparation of Smaller MCMB. MCMB prepared with carbon black as additive had good sphere and uniform diameter, but the yield of MCMB was low and on the surface of the spherules the carbon black particles were adsorped. MCMB prepared in the presence of aluminum chloride had good sphere, smooth surface, good monodispersity and high yield. Using p-toluene sulphonic acid as additive, small MCMB with diameter from 0.5-0.8 bonded seriously and MCMB with diameter more than 1 had good sphere and monodispersity. The MCMB prepared with sulfur had bad sphere, relatively large particle size and bonded each other. aluminum chloride is the optimal additive among them.