Vapor grown carbon fiber, and production method and use thereof

Abstract

A vapor grown carbon fiber, each fiber filament of the carbonfiber having a branching degree of at least 0.15 occurrences/μm and a bulk density of 0.025 g/cm3 or less and a producing method of the carbon fiber by spraying a raw material solution containing a carbon source and a transition metallic compound into a reaction zone and subjecting the raw material solution to thermal decomposition, which is characterized in (1) spraying the raw material solution at a spray angle of 3° to 30° and (2) feeding a carrier gas through at least one site other than an inlet through which the raw material solution is sprayed, and a composite material comprising the carbon fiber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.