Carbon fibers have promising applications
in the efficient transmission
of electric power with less resource consumption. Laser graphitization
of the mesophase pitch-based carbon fiber (MPCF) was proposed to improve
the electrical conductivity of the carbon fiber. The obtained MPCF
showed a high conductivity of 7.04 × 105 S/m. The
graphitization degree of carbon fiber increased and the interlayer
spacing of its graphite crystal decreased on increasing the laser
intensity. With a laser power of 360 W and an irradiation period of
25 s, corresponding to a temperature of 3001 °C, a high graphitization
degree (R = 0.02) was obtained and the interlayer
spacing was as small as 0.338 nm, close to that of pure graphitic
carbon (0.335 nm). The enhanced electrical conductivity is attributed
to the improved homogeneity of graphitization along the axial and
radial directions, the ordered structural evolution, ordered stacking
of the graphitic layer, and the promoted connectivity between the
graphitic crystals in the carbon fiber. The energy consumption of
the proposed method is estimated to be only 0.46% of that with the
conventional Joule heating approach. This work suggests that laser-induced
graphitization is a good alternative to prepare carbon fibers with
high electrical conductivity and reduced energy consumption.