Systemic Transformations During Heating and Carbonization of Polyoxadiazole Fibers

Abstract

The effect of thermal degradation, including at low temperatures (50-350°C), of poly-p-phenylene-1,3,4-oxadiazole fibers on their electrical conductivity during carbonization (900°C) was studied. The electrical conductivity of carbonized fibers showed several local extrema depending on the thermal-degradation regime that were due to features of transforming the structure and phase states of the polymer fiber system into the electrically conducting states of the carbon fiber system. It was found that the carbon fibers had semiconductor properties that depended on the direction of oriented drawing and the thermal-degradation regimes of the starting polymer fibers.