Novel method for carbon nanofilament growth on carbon fibers
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- UNM MECH.ENG.
Fiber reinforced structural composites such as fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) have proven to be key materials for blast mitigation due to their enhanced mechanical performance. However, there is a need to further increase total energy absorption of the composites in order to retain structural integrity in high energy environments, for example, blast events. Research has shown that composite failure in high energy environments can be traced to their relatively low shear strength attributed to the limited bond strength between the matrix and the fibers. One area of focus for improving the strength of composite materials has been to create 'multi-scale' composites. The most common approach to date is to introduce carbon nanotubes into a more traditional composite consisting of epoxy with embedded micron scale fibers. The inclusion of carbon nanotubes (CNT) clearly toughens different matrices. Depositing CNT in brittle matrix increases stiffness by orders of magnitude. Currently, this approach to create multiscale composites is limited due to the difficulty of dispersing significant amounts of nanotubes. It has repeatedly been reported that phase separation occurs above relatively low weight percent loading (ca. 3%) due to the strong van der Waals forces between CNTs compared with that between CNT and polymer. Hence, the nanotubes tend to segregate and form inclusions. One means to prevent nanotube or nanofilament agglomeration is to anchor one end of the nanostructure, thereby creating a stable multi-phase structure. This is most easily done by literally growing the CNTs directly on micron scale fibers. Recently, CNT were grown on carbon fibers, both polyacrylonitrile- (PAN-) and pitch-based, by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) using H2 and CH4 as precursors. Nickel clusters were electrodeposited on the fiber surfaces to catalyze the growth and uniform CNT coatings were obtained on both the PAN- and pitch-based carbon fibers. Multiwalled CNTs with smooth walls and low impurity content were grown. Carbon nanofibers were also grown on a carbon fiber cloth using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) from a mixture of acetylene and ammonia. In this case, a cobalt colloid was used to achieve a good coverage of nanofibers on carbon fibers in the cloth. Caveats to CNT growth include damage in the carbon fiber surface due to high-temperatures (>800 C). More recently, Qu et al. reported a new method for uniform deposition of CNT on carbon fibers. However, this method requires processing at 1100 C in the presence of oxygen and such high temperature is anticipated to deepen the damage in the carbon fibers. In the present work, multi-scale filaments (herein, linear carbon structures with multi-micron diameter are called 'fibers', all structures with sub-micron diameter are called 'filaments') were created with a low temperature (ca. 550 C) alternative to CVD growth of CNTs. Specifically, nano-scale filaments were rapidly generated (> 10 microns/hour) on commercial micron scale fibers via catalytic (Pd particles) growth from a fuel rich combustion environment at atmospheric pressure. This atmospheric pressure process, derived from the process called Graphitic Growth by Design (GSD), is rapid, the maximum temperature low enough (below 700 C) to avoid structural damage and the process inexpensive and readily scalable. In some cases, a significant and unexpected aspect of the process was the generation of 'three scale' materials. That is, materials with these three size characteristics were produced: (1) micrometer scale commercial PAN fibers, (2) a layer of 'long' sub-micrometer diameter scale carbon filaments, and (3) a dense layer of 'short' nanometer diameter filaments.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 962337
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-09-01467; LA-UR-09-1467; TRN: US200919%%98
- Journal Information:
- Advanced Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Materials
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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