Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)and pitch-based carbon fibres are widely used as a reinforcement in composite materials such as carbon fibre reinforced plastics, carbon fibre reinforced ceramics, carbon-carbon composites and carbon fibre reinforced metals, because of their high specific strength and modulus. Such composites have become a dominant material in the aerospace, automotive and sporting goods ...

Microelectrodes have shown outstanding performance in neural signal recording, neural stimulation and electrochemical sensing1,2. Compared with their micro-sized counterparts, microelectrodes normally exhibit improved signal-to-noise ratio, fast response time and can work with limited sample volumes. Microelectrodes are required to have good biocompatibility, low electrical impedance and long-t...

One of the important issues in producing composite materials with natural fibres is the modification of the surface of the fibres to enhance adhesion and interfacial bonding with polymer matrix. In this report, the effect of alkalization on the mechanical properties, thermal stability and surface morphology of banana stem fibres is examined. The results show that treatment with sodium hydroxide...

The application of an in situ potential difference between carbon fibres and a graphite foil counter electrode (300 V, generating an electric field ca 0.3-0.7 V μm-1), during the chemical vapour deposition synthesis of carbon nanotube (CNT) grafted carbon fibres, significantly improves the uniformity of growth without reducing the tensile properties of the underlying carbon fibres. Grafted CNTs...

Carbon fibres are a significant volume fraction of modern structural airframes. Embedded into polymer matrices, they provide significant strength and stiffness gains by unit weight compared with competing structural materials. Here we use the Raman G peak to assess the response of carbon fibres to the application of strain, with reference to the response of graphene itself. our data highlight t...

The soft tissue response to carbon fibre was studied histologically one and a half years after being used to reconstruct the lateral collateral ligament of the human knee. A remarkably consistent pattern was seen in the induced ligament. The basic pattern was a "composite unit", consisting of a core of carbon fibre enveloped in a concentric manner by coherent layers of fibroblasts and collagen ...

The extraordinary properties of graphene and carbon nanotubes motivate the development of methods for their use in producing continuous, strong, tough fibres. Previous work has shown that the toughness of the carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer fibres exceeds that of previously known materials. Here we show that further increased toughness results from combining carbon nanotubes and reduced grap...