Zeon Corporation

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Keiichi Kawata

Akiyoshi Shibuya

Kenji Hata

Motoo Yumura

Kohei Arakawa

A production method for growing a carbon nanotube assembly on a substrate having a catalyst on a surface thereof. In this production method, in each of a formation unit that carries out a formation step of reducing a catalyst on the substrate and a growth unit that carries out a growth step of growing a carbon nanotube assembly, the substrate is continuously being conveyed using conveyance units that convey the substrate by screw rotations. In carrying out the formation step and the growth step, these steps are carried out while the gas environments in these steps are prevented from mixing with each other.

Production method of carbon nanotube assembly

An apparatus of the present invention for producing aligned carbon nanotube aggregates is an apparatus for producing aligned carbon nanotube aggregates, the apparatus being configured to grow the aligned carbon nanotube aggregate by: causing a catalyst formed on a surface of a substrate to be surrounded by a reducing gas environment constituted by a reducing gas; heating at least either the catalyst or the reducing gas; causing the catalyst to be surrounded by a raw material gas environment constituted by a raw material gas; and heating at least either the catalyst or the raw material gas, at least either an apparatus component exposed to the reducing gas or an apparatus component exposed to the raw material gas being made from a heat-resistant alloy, and having a surface plated with molten aluminum.

Apparatus for producing aligned carbon nanotube aggregates

An apparatus of the present invention for producing an aligned carbon-nanotube aggregate is an apparatus for producing an aligned carbon-nanotube aggregate by synthesizing the aligned carbon-nanotube aggregate on a base material having a catalyst on a surface thereof, the apparatus including: a formation unit that processes a formation step of causing an environment surrounding the catalyst to be an environment of a reducing gas and heating at least either the catalyst or the reducing gas; a growth unit that processes a growth step of synthesizing the aligned carbon-nanotube aggregate by causing the environment surrounding the catalyst to be an environment of a raw material gas and by heating at least either the catalyst or the raw material gas; and a transfer unit that transfers the base material at least from the formation unit to the growth unit. Thus provided is a production apparatus and a production method that are capable of improving efficiency in the production of aligned CNT aggregates by preventing a decrease in production volume and deterioration in quality of aligned CNT aggregates in serial production and by making it easy to increase the size of the apparatus.

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Tokyo, Japan

Keiichi Kawata