What are Carbon Nano Fibers?

 

 

What are Carbon Nanofibers?

 
Carbon nanofibers (CNF) possess a unique morphology not available in other nanomaterials. Applied Sciences, Inc. (ASI), located in Cedarville, Ohio, has developed high volume production for two basic types of CNFs. Pyrograf I and Pyrograf III each have properties approaching the theoretical values of graphite in almost every performance characteristic.

Pyrograf III has a tubular structure with the sidewalls composed of angled graphite sheets with a very pure (over 99.9%) fibrous material and very low metal content. Its morphology, termed "stacked cup" or "herringbone", generates exposed edge planes along the entire surface of the fiber. This large number of edge sites is highly reactive and thus readily allows chemical modification of the fiber surface for maximum mechanical bonding to the polymer matrix in composites. This open architecture also facilitates rapid intercalation and de-intercalation of heterogeneous atoms. ASI produces two commercial types of Pyrograf III in a dry powder form: PR-19 (average diameter of 150 nanometers) and PR-24 (average diameter of 100 nanometers) in lengths of 30-100 microns. While Pyrograf-I is a high-performance thermally conductive carbon fiber produced with much larger diameters of 3 to 20 micrometers.