Rapid Vapor Grown Carbon Fiber Production Using the Intermittent Liquid Pulse Injection Technique

Three series of experiments were conducted to collect information for the design of a commercial scale reactor for the production of low cost vapor grown carbon fibers (VGCFs). Firstly, the effects of reaction conditions on the yield of vapor grown carbon fibers were investigated using the newly developed liquid pulse injection technique. The examined conditions were the flow rate of the carrier gas, and the amount of the catalyst source injected into the reactor as a liquid pulse. Yields up to 40% were attained under optimized conditions. Secondly, VGCFs were continuously produced by intermittently injecting the catalyst source into the reactor (intermittent liquid pulse injection technique), and the effect of the intervals of the injections on the amount of VGCFs obtained was also investigated. VGCFs were successfully obtained using this method. Finally, the growth sequences of VGCFs were investigated using benzene, toluene and xylene as the carbon source. VGCFs were obtained from each carbon source