A high strength carbon nanofiber/honeycomb cordierite composite produced by chemical vapor deposition

A carbon nanofiber (CNF)/honeycomb cordierite composite with a compressive strength of 50 MPa was prepared by chemical vapor deposition, using C2H4 as the carbon source and Ni-Cu alloy as the catalyst. The CNFs with a diameter of 20-30 nm in the cells of the honeycomb interweave with each other to form a 5 μm- thick layer. The CNF content is 25.3 wt%. The Cu has remarkable effects on the particle size of the Ni-Cu alloy, which further affects the growth rate, loading level and nanostructures of the CNFs. The CNFs are not well graphitized and the insertion of the CNFs into the honeycomb can increase its compressive strength from 10 to 50 MPa.