(20b) Vapor Grown Carbon Fiber - Microfibrous Matrix Composites

The Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing at Auburn University uses high speed, wet-lay paper-making processes to manufacture low cost, high performance three-dimensional microfibrous materials for filtration and catalysis applications. The incorporation of Vapor Grown Carbon Fibers (VGCFs) into these advanced materials creates new opportunities for high performance applications. The two approaches for incorporation of VGCFs being researched are: addition of VGCF in wet-lay paper-making process and synthesis of VGCFs on metal microfibrous materials. The results for synthesis of VGCF on nickel microfibrous material will be presented. Also, the method of incorporation of commercially available VGCF in glass microfibrous material formed on pilot paper-making machine will be presented.