Communication-A Technique for Online Continuous Manufacture of Carbon Nanotubes-Grown Carbon Fibers

Most of the methods for growing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the surface of carbon fibers are usually on a laboratory scale and cannot be applied to industrial production on a large scale. Here, a novel technique has been successfully developed to grow CNTs on continuous moving carbon fiber surfaces by a unique open-ended chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace. The experimental results show that the CNTs achieve uniform growth on the surface of carbon fibers, repairing the defects and improving the tensile strength. This study provides an original vision for the continuous growth of CNTs, and it will be a promising technique for CNTs-grown carbon fibers online manufacture.