Carbon nanostructure-coated fibers of low areal weight and methods for producing the same

A method comprising:

• providing a mixture comprising a solvent and a plurality of carbon nanostructures;
• wherein each carbon nanostructure comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes that are branched, crosslinked, and share common walls with one another;
• dispersing the carbon nanostructures in the solvent until the carbon nanostructures are substantially non-agglomerated;
• and
• passing the solvent through a support layer comprising a plurality of fibers having apertures defined between the fibers, whereby the carbon nanostructures become at least partially conformally coated around the fibers and bridge across the apertures defined between adjacent fibers to form a continuous carbon nanostructure layer.

A method comprising:

• forming a mixture comprising a plurality of carbon nanostructures and a plurality of chopped fibers in a solvent;
• wherein each carbon nanostructure comprises a plurality of carbon nanotubes that are branched, crosslinked, and share common walls with one another;
• and
• filtering the mixture to collect the chopped fibers and carbon nanostructures as a layer structure in which the carbon nanostructures at least partially conformally coat the fibers and bridge across apertures defined between adjacent fibers.