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Continuous method for grafting CNTs on the surface of carbon fibers based on cobalt catalyst assisted by thiourea

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Abstract

This paper provides a continuous method for grafting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the surface of carbon fibers by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The control of the morphology of CNTs/CFs can be achieved by adding thiourea to the cobalt nitrate precursor. The sulfur can increase the catalytic activity of the Co catalyst. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that a uniform layer of CNTs is grafted onto the surface of carbon fibers with the presence of thiourea. Through the single-filament tensile strength test, it can be found that the tensile strength of the fiber is increased by up to about 10% compared with the desized carbon fibers after the CVD process. And the reason for the enhancement is explored through X-ray diffraction. Raman spectroscopy reveals that the sample possesses the highest degree of graphitization at a thiourea concentration of 0.02 mol/L. It is found by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy that the growth mechanism of CNTs is tip growth mechanism, and the diameter of the CNTs is about 15 nm.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation in Shandong Province (ZR2017MEM011, 2018GGX104022, 2018GGX102031), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51773110, 51573087).

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Correspondence to Yanxiang Wang.

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Su, S., Wang, Y., Qin, J. et al. Continuous method for grafting CNTs on the surface of carbon fibers based on cobalt catalyst assisted by thiourea. J Mater Sci 54, 12498–12508 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-03827-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-03827-8

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