Vapor-Grown Carbon Fiber and Production Process Thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a process for producing a vapor-grown carbon fiber by contacting a carbon source in the supplied raw material with a catalyst and/or a catalyst precursor compound in a heating zone to produce a carbon fiber in a vapor phase, wherein the carbon source at least includes methane, the concentration of methane in the supplied raw material is at or more than 15 mol % to less than 100 mol %, and the temperature in the high-temperature part of the heating zone is from 1,100 to 1,500° C. The process of the present invention is simple and effective, and in which the effectiveness of a catalyst or a catalyst precursor can be remarkably enhanced and, in turn, a carbon fiber can be produced at a low cost.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.