2014 Volume 83 Issue 2 Pages 98-102
Thin carbon fibers with a light weight, high electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and chemical stability, have attracted a considerable amount of attention for many applications such as energy devices and structural materials for transportation equipment. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with a diameter from tens of nanometers to several microns are a new class of 1-dimensional (1-D) carbon nanomaterials between conventional carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers. The present report focuses on the current status and future prospects of research on CNFs and describes the fabrication methods (i.e., catalytic chemical vapor deposition, 1-D nanotemplate-assisted carbonization, melt-spinning of polymer blends, electrospinning) and applications to low-carbon technologies.
