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Sebastian Sabala
Mr. Sanders
Nanotechnology 1050
21 March 2016
Carbon Nanofiber
Carbon is an element with multiple purposes, you may have heard of carbon nanotubes,
carbon fiber, graphene, and, C60. All of these forms are made of carbon and they all have
different uses along with different structures. Carbon is a very abundant element on earth with it
being the sixth most abundant element on earth. Carbon is a very interesting element because it
makes diamonds, plants absorb it, you name it. What I will be discussing carbon nano fibers in
this paper, what they can be used for, how theyre made, and why they are important.
The history of carbon nano fibers go as far back as a century. It has been reported that
carbon filaments are grown from carbon containing gases using a metallic crucible as the catalyst
in a patent published in 1889 (De Jong and Geus). For the first 80 years of this century carbon
nano fibers were seen as a nuisance, it was a graphitic powder was referred to as carbon
filaments rather than carbon nano fibers (De Jong and Geus). Later in 1980 researchers explored
the uses of these nano fibers and found that they can actually be useful rather than harmful. They
found that they can be used as an additive in polymers and to support catalysts as well. The
further interest of carbon nano fibers occurred when they noticed that carbon nano tubes and
carbon nano fibers were present after making fullerenes during arc discharge (De Jong and
Geus).
Carbon nano fibers have a unique structure, it is a little different than the other carbon
structures such as, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and carbon fiber. The structure of

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carbon nanotubes and carbon nano fibers are both hollow but both different in their general
structure. Carbon nanotubes have been getting more attention than the nano fibers because
nanotubes structure is more uniform which allows it to be stronger and really conductive. The
nano fiber structure has a more jagged structure this type of structure is useful for storage of
energy and fuel cells. The Van der Waals force in carbon nanotubes are stronger than in carbon
nano fibers, this causes nanotubes to reattach after being dispersed while in nano fibers can be
dispersed for long periods of times. This makes carbon nano fibers cheaper to produce than
nanotubes (pyrografproducts.com). These carbon filaments diameter ranges from .04 nanometers
to 500 nanometers. Their structure is what determines their applications, and functions they can
be used for. Carbon nano fibers can have a herringbone structure which is a stacked cone
structure, and a stacked structure which is graphene stacked perpendicular to the fiber axis layer
(Poveda and Gupta). These different structures can be achieved by different production
techniques.
A common process to making carbon nano fiber is vapor grown. Vapor Grown carbon
nano fibers make the herringbone formation of stacked cones. A common process of vapor
grown nanotubes is chemical vapor deposition. This process uses catalytic particles like, iron,
nickel, cobalt, and copper. This process also needs a carbon supply like, carbon monoxide, and
hydrocarbon gas, at temperatures of around 500 to 1200 degrees celsius (Poveda and Gupta). The
size of the nano fiber depends on the size of the catalyst being used, usually the catalysts size is
roughly 10-100 nanometers.
Another common process to making the nano fibers is electrospinning. This process uses
a fine tip needle and a high voltage source. The voltage is then applied to the droplet at the tip of
the needle, the high voltage caused the fluid to spurt from the needle. When there is enough

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surface tension between the fluid on the needle the fibrous structure is made at the target. In
chemical vapor deposition it yields high carbon nano fibers but there is a lot of catalyst residue
and it uses expensive equipment to make. The electrospinning method is a cheaper process and
makes aligned nano fibers that the other process cannot do. Both of these carbon nano fiber
producing methods are constantly being improved to be more efficient and making a better fiber.
Electrospinning carbon nano fibers are a top down method while vapor grown nano fibers is a
bottom up method. A new method of making carbon nano fibers is by pulling the carbon dioxide
from the air. It has recently been done at George Washington University. This process uses solar
power that powers two electrodes under some molten salt or lithium carbonate, the carbon
dioxide in the air then reacts to the lithium carbonate forming carbon nano fibers (popsci.com).
Carbon nano fibers can improve electrical conductivity in composites. Can improve
strength of polyolefins up to four times. Improve impact strength in polar resins. Can chemically
bond to graphite planes to fine tune composite properties. These are just a few positive properties
carbon nano fibers have.
Carbon nano fibers can be used as a sensor, this was first found out by testing the
electrical conductivity of the nano fibers, these fibers can pickup stress, strain, and even gas. This
is sensed by changing the conductivity of the nano fibers by simply changing the external
conditions (materials). Carbon nano fibers have been used for studies in batteries and super
capacitors. The only requirement for high performance batteries and capacitors is that they must
have have porous electrode materials which should be able to support a large amount of
electrolytes for a long period of time (materials). You can magnify the carbon nano fiber surface
area to accommodate the porous requirements. Carbon nano fibers have many more possible

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applications such as, silicon wafer production, disk drive components, fuel systems, aircraft
braking, thermal management, and lightweight composites.
Carbon is a very abundant element that can take on many different forms and can be
applied to just about anything. Carbon nano fibers were first thought of as a nuisance to early
scientists not ever really knowing what it was or the used of it. Nano fibers can be made several
different ways, through chemical vapor deposition and electrospinning, even a new way of
making carbon nano fibers has been discovered by extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air
which could slow down or ultimately stop global warming. All of these methods have there
upsides and downsides but they are both being improved to be the best. Carbon nano fiber is also
conductive, and is very strong, although not as strong as carbon nanotubes. In the future you may
see carbon nano fibers in your lithium ion batteries, super capacitors, and medicines. Carbon
nano fibers have been around for a long time but just recently have been noticed and researched.
Carbon is everywhere and it can be used to improve just about anything.

Works Cited
De Jong, Krijn P., and John W. Geus. Carbon Nanofibers:Catalytic Synthesis and Applications
(n.d.): n. pag. Utrecht University. Web.

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A Comparison of Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Nanofibers." Pyrograph Products Inc. N.p., n.d.
Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
Poveda, Ronald L., and Nikhil Gupta. Carbon Nanofiber Reinforced Polymer Composites. N.p.:
n.p., n.d. Print.
Lichaofeng, Ningxie, and Jing Zhong. "Carbon Nanofibers and Their Composites: A Review of
Synthesizing, Properties and Applications." Materials 7.5 (2014): 3919-945. Web.

Riggs, Mary Beth. "SCIENTISTS PULL CARBON NANOFIBERS OUT OF THIN AIR."
Popular Science. N.p., 21 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.