Fibrils
AssigneeHyperion Catalysis International, Inc.
InventorsW. Harry Mandeville, Larry K. Truesdale, Howard Tennent
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention relates to fibrils. It more particularly refers to carbon/graphite fibrils and to an improved process for producing such. Carbon fibrils as used herein means graphitic fibrils having high surface area, high Young's modulus of elasticity and high tensile strength which are grown catalytically from available sources of carbon.
Claims23
In the process of producing carbon fibrils by decomposing a source of carbon at elevated temperatures in contact with a multivalent transition metal and recovering the fibrils formed thereby;
- the improvement which comprises injecting catalyst particles having a size of up to 400 microns and comprising at least one multivalent transition metal on a particulate substrate into a reactor heated to a temperature below the thermal decomposition temperature of said source of carbon, and continuously recovering the fibrils formed thereby,
- said metal being present on said substrate as a multiplicity of discontinuous catalytic sites which, at least during fibril formation, have a size of about 35 to 700 A which size is measured by measuring the size of transition metal particles recovered along with produced fibrils and said fibrils comprising an inner core region of less ordered carbon atoms surrounded by an outer region of ordered carbon atoms.
A process for producing high yields of long, thin fibrils comprising at least long portions having atomically ordered outer surfaces, as made by contacting a vaporous source of the atoms which will comprise said outer surface with catalytic particles;
- which process comprises injecting said catalyst particles into a reactor heated to a temperature below the thermal composition temperature of said source of carbon,
- said catalyst particles having a size of up to 400 microns and comprising at least one multivalent transition metal on a particulate substrate, said metal being present on said substrate as multiplicity of discontinuous catalytic sites which, at least during fibril formation, have a size of about 35 to 700 A which size is measured by measuring the size of transition metal particles recovered along with produced fibrils,
- and continuously recovering the fibrils formed thereby.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.