Core Level and Valence Band XPS Spectra of E-120 Pitch-based Carbon Fiber Galvanostatically Oxidized in (NH4)2CO3 Solution

Du Pont E-120 high modulus pitch-based carbon fiber was galvanostatically oxidized in (NH4)2CO3 solution and analyzed with both core level and valence band XPS. Compared to the untreated E-120 fiber, the galvanostatically oxidized fiber had a very much higher oxygen content on its surface. Nitrogen was also found on this carbon fiber sample after the treatment in (NH4)2CO3 solution but no nitrogen was found either before or after the treatment in HNO3 solution. Our previously reported work [see Y. Xie and P. M. A. Sherwood, Appl. Spectrosc. 43, 1153 (1989); Chem. Mater. 1, 427 (1989); 2, 293 (1990); Appl. Spectrosc. 44, 797 (1990); Chem. Mater. 3, 164 (1991); Appl. Spectrosc. 44, 1621 (1990); 45, 1158 (1991); Y. Xie, T. Wang, O. Franklin, and P. M. A. Sherwood, ibid. 46, 645 (1992)] showed that XPS valence band spectra were more sensitive to chemical environment on the carbon fiber surface than core level spectra and could be well interpreted by X–α calculations with model compounds. In this work, the valence band spectrum shows that there were three different types of oxygen-containing functional groups formed on the fiber surface when the fiber was electrochemically oxidized in (NH4)2CO3 solution but only one type of oxygen-containing functionality formed after the electrochemical treatment in HNO3 solution. We also reported [see Y. Xie and P. M. A. Sherwood, Appl. Spectrosc. 45, 1158 (1991)] that the reproducibility of the galvanostatic treatment was better than that of the potentiostatic treatment, although the results from potentiostatic oxidation and galvanostatic oxidation were very similar.