Searching for coal tar pitch suitable for high yield of mesocarbon microbeads

This paper presents the results of our research that form a small part of the work done under a project funded by NNSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China). The NNSFC project needs the kind of coal tar pitch that can give the high yield of mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB). In our study, MCMB were prepared from coal tar pitch by heat condensation. The contents of a, β and γ resins in coal tar pitch were adjusted by the method of solvent separation. In the full paper, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show respectively the effects of amounts of a, β and γ resins on the yield of MCMB. Fig. 1 shows that the content of 7 resin has little effect on the yield of MCMB. Fig. 2 shows that when content of β resin is kept constant at 13%, the yield reaches the peak value of about 25% for content of a resin equal to about 2%. Fig. 3 shows that when content of a resin is kept constant at 6%, the yield also reaches the peak value of about 25% for content of β resin equal to about 6%. The peak yield of 25% for both Fig. 2 (a = 2%, β = 13%) and Fig. 3 β = 6%, a = 6%) is quite high. But the work for attaining the highest yield with the best combination of contents of a and β resins remains to be done. In the full paper we give detailed discussions about the shapes of the curves in Figs. 2 and 3.