The
thermal behaviors of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites in flowing
air were investigated on the basis of mechanical pencil leads with
different hardness values and diameters as a model system. Two separated
mass-loss processes were observed during heating the mechanical pencil
leads in air, which are attributed to the evaporation–decomposition
of an impregnation agent and the subsequent thermal oxidation of the
residual C/C composite. The thermal behaviors were invariant among
the mechanical pencil leads with different diameters, but they systematically
changed with hardness. Variations in the thermal behaviors can be
quantified by the mass-loss value during the evaporation–decomposition
of the impregnation agent, in addition to the kinetic deconvolution
analysis that was applied to the multistep thermal oxidation process
of carbon components with different reactivities. These results correlate
the thermal behavior with the compositional and structural characteristics
of C/C composites, which can be useful for characterization and product
control.