A novel method to fabricate isotropic pyrocarbon by densifying a multi-walled carbon nanotube preform by fixed-bed chemical vapor deposition

We reported a novel method to fabricate isotropic pyrocarbon (ISO Pc). A multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) preform (30 vol.% content, in which curved MWCNTs were randomly dispersed) was first prepared and was then densified to fabricate bulk ISO Pc by fixed-bed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at low temperatures. Microstructure analyses show that the product is isotropic on both the micro- and nano-scale. It was found that the method can prepare ISO Pc under broad CVD conditions, which could develop a simple and reliable method to prepare ISO Pc.