Chapter 5 - Vapor Grown Carbon Fiber Composites

Abstract

This chapter presents a synopsis of work in composites of vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF), with a summary of the issues which must be overcome before the potential of VGCF can be realized in commercially viable composites. VGCF is the descriptive name of a class of carbon fiber, which is distinctively different from other types of carbon fiber in its method of production, its unique physical characteristics, and the prospect of low cost fabrication. This type of carbon fiber is synthesized from the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons or carbon monoxide in the gaseous state, in the presence of a catalyst; in contrast to a melt-spinning process common to other types of carbon fiber. Numerous investigations into the mechanisms of vapor grown carbon fiber formation, and the properties of the various types of fibers, have established this material as a unique and intriguing component of the set of forms that may be synthesized from carbon. From these studies, methods of economic production of VGCF have been developed, promising low cost, high modulus graphitic fiber as a new commodity for broad use in commercial applications for engineered plastics. Work on composites of VGCF is essentially still in its infancy, yet composites have been fabricated which have established highest values for properties of thermal and electrical conductivity among similar composites.