Chapter 4
Conclusion and Future Work
There are many types and sizes of CNTs, and CVD has proven itself as a viable
method for the large-scale production of CNTs for composite applications. Also
produced via CVD, aligned CNTs help to solve many of the difficulties in the
manufacturing of CNT-reinforced composites, which include agglomeration, non-
homogeneous dispersion, and the alignment of the CNTs to maximize their
contribution to the bulk properties of the composite. As these A-CNTs assemble into
a self-aligned forest during synthesis, the CNT spacing is very regular, yet is sparse
enough to allow for the infiltration of a polymer matrix.
While the quality of CNTs grown via pre-deposited catalyst CVD is generally
much higher as compared to those grown via vapor-phase CVD, the DWNTs
produced by this method simply cannot hold up to the force of the polymer
infiltrating the free space between them. As a result, these thin-walled CNTs will
buckle and lose their alignment during this process. Alternatively, the vapor-phase-
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