This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating carbon nanofiber reinforced carbon-carbon (C-C) composite by integrating catalytic nanofiber growth and carbon deposition into a single operation. The main advantage of this process is the ability to directly fabricate components on substrates at a high rate thus it avoids the conventionally used lengthy C-C fabrication approach with multiple steps. As a result, the manufacturing complexity, the process cycle time, and the cost will be greatly reduced. In addition, since high density carbon and high strength carbon nanofibers are engineered in an integrated form, the C-C composite is expected to have unprecedented mechanical properties compared with conventional C-C composite. Commercially this technology will increase the reliability and reduce manufacturing cost, thus making the American C-C composite products more competitive in the world market. One immediate application of this composite will be for aircraft brake components. The technology can also be applied to many other applications such as computer hard disc media substrates and the next generation medical implants.
