The purpose of this paper was to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of compressed expanded graphite (CEG) and their porous derivatives after impregnation, polymerization; and carbonization by the use of acoustic emission method (AE). The mechanical and structural characteristics of compressed expanded graphite and their three groups of porous composites after each technological process are presented and discussed. The measurements of acoustic emission parameters in these materials were carried out at wide range of frequency of the waves (0.1÷2.5 MHz). The changes of two of parameters: -AE pulses counts rate and spectrum distribution of AE waves -are presented in this paper. The analysis of the respective parameters AE also gives possibility to determine the micro-and macro structural changes of materials at different levels of technological processes.Applications of these materials as catalysts with high specific surface make them very interesting subject of study. Also compressed expanded graphite composite membranes prepared from furfuryl alcohol polymers are promising for gas separation.Keywords: compressed expanded graphite, polymerization, carbonization, composite membrane, acoustic emission Cel pracy stanowiło zbadanie przy użyciu metody emisji akustycznej (EA) fizycznych i mechanicznych właściwości sprasowanego grafitu ekspandowanego (SGE) i jego porowatych pochodnych kompozytowych, otrzymanych po procesach impregnacji, polimeryzacji i karbonizacji. Przedstawiono i przedyskutowano mechaniczne i strukturalne charakterystyki sprasowanego grafitu ekspandowanego i trzech porowatych kompozytów otrzymanych na jego bazie, po kolejnych procesach technologicznych. Pomiary parametrów zarejestrowanych sygnałów EA w tych materiałach wykonano w szerokim przedziale częstotliwości emitowanych w materiale fal (0,1-2,5 MHz). W pracy przedstawiono zmiany dwu z tych parametrów: szybkości zliczeń impulsów i rozkładu widmowego emitowanych fal. Analiza poszczególnych parametrów emisji akustycznej stwarza możliwości określenia mikro-i makrostrukturalnych zmian w materiałach, wytworzonych na różnych etapach procesu technologicznego.Przewidywane szerokie zastosowanie tych materiałów jako katalizatorów, posiadających bardzo duże powierzchnie właści-we, czyni je niezwykle interesującym przedmiotem badań. Również bardzo perspektywiczne jest wykorzystanie kompozytowych membran z matrycą ze sprasowanego grafitu ekspandowanego, wypełnionego polimerem alkoholu furfurylowego, do separacji gazów.

IntroductionDetermination of physical, mechanical and chemical properties of the compressed expanded graphite (CEG) composites prepared from poly-furfuryl alcohol is important to resolve whether the materials can be used as good quality catalysts [1][2] or composite membranes for gas separation [3][4] and also as proton exchange membranes in fuel cells [5][6][7][8].The purpose of this paper was to search the relations between the structure of the CEG composites on successive stages of technological treatment and parameters describing the acoustic emission (AE) phenomena in these materials.These investigations are a continuation of our earlier studies [9] concerning physical and chemical properties of porous composites created on the basis of a CEG matrix, obtained after successive technological procedures of Compressed expanded graphite was applied as a base matrix to the preparation of microporous composites as products of impregnation, polymerization and carbonization of poly-furfuryl alcohol. During carbonization, the original polymeric structure is transformed into an amorphous turbostratic carbon structure with ultramicropores. The structure, porosity and many chemical and physical properties change after each stage of their technological treatment.The acoustic emission method was used for accurate determination of these changes. It is possible to determine a large number of acoustic emission parameters and therefore to increase the amount of information provided by the studied materials. Acoustic emission pulses, counts rate, events rate, signal peak value and their sums were measured. Also frequency spectrum was received as a result of acoustic emission signal analysis with use of Fourier transformation procedure. The conclusions resulting from the Fourier analysis of the registered spectrum are very interesting and provide information about composite structures as well as bonds between the graphite matrix and the polymer that fills it. Analysis of acoustic emission parameters provides data on physical and chemical processes that would be very difficult to study by means of other techniques. Wide applications of these porous composites make them very interesting subject of the study.

The purpose of this paper was to search the relations between the structure of the compressed expanded graphite -polymer -turbostratic carbon composites on successive stages of technological treatment and parameters describing the acoustic emission phenomena in these materials. The acoustic emission method can be used for measurements of changes in the structure and many different properties of materials. These investigations are a continuation of our earlier studies concerning physical, mechanical and chemical properties of porous composites created on the basis of a compressed expanded graphite matrix, obtained after successive technological procedures of impregnation, polymerization and carbonization of polyfurfuryl alcohol. The aim of this work was to investigate materials obtained at different levels of technological processing, thus with different densities, porosity, physical and chemical properties, by using the acoustic emission method.In compressed expanded graphite composites structures one can differentiate two basic directions: perpendicular to the bedding plane of graphite flakes and parallel to this one. The all presented results were obtained for the uniaxial strain applied in the direction perpendicular to the bedding plane of the composite structure. Analysis of acoustic emission parameters provides information on physical and chemical processes in these materials.