J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051
DOI 10.1007/s10853-012-6694-6
The effect of surface modification with carbon nanotubes
upon the tensile strength and Weibull modulus of carbon fibers
Kimiyoshi Naito • Jenn-Ming Yang •
Yuta Inoue • Hiroshi Fukuda
Received: 19 March 2012 / Accepted: 20 June 2012 / Published online: 10 July 2012
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Abstract Carbon fibers are widely used as reinforce-
ments in composite materials because of their high specific
strength and modulus. Today, a number of ultrahigh
strength polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based (more than 6 GPa),
and ultrahigh modulus pitch-based (more than 900 GPa)
carbon fibers have been commercially available. In con-
trast, carbon nanotube (CNT) with the extremely high
tensile strength have attracted attention as reinforcements.
An interesting technique to modify the carbon fiber is CNT
grafting on the carbon fiber surface. CNT-grafted carbon
fibers offer the opportunity to add the potential benefits of
nanoscale reinforcement to well-established fibrous com-
posites to create micro-nano multiscale hybrid composites.
In the present study, the tensile properties of CNT grown
on T1000GB PAN- and K13D pitch-based carbon fibers
have been investigated. Single filament tensile test at gauge
lengths of 1, 5, and 25 mm were conducted. The effect of
gauge length on tensile strength and Weibull modulus of
CNT-grafted PAN- and pitch-based carbon fibers were
evaluated. It was found that grafting of CNT improves the
tensile strength and Weibull modulus of PAN- and pitch-
based carbon fibers with longer gauge length (C5 mm).
K. Naito (&)  Y. Inoue
Composite Materials Group, Hybrid Materials Unit, National
Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba,
Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan
e-mail: NAITO.Kimiyoshi@nims.go.jp
J.-M. Yang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of
California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1595, USA
Y. Inoue  H. Fukuda
Department of Materials Science and Technology, Tokyo
University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba 278-8510,
Japan
123
The results also clearly show that for CNT-grafted and
as-received PAN- and pitch-based carbon fibers, there is a
linear relation between the Weibull modulus and the
average tensile strength on log–log scale.
Introduction
Carbon fibers are widely used as reinforcements in com-
posite materials because of their high specific strength and
modulus. Such composites have become a dominant
material in the aerospace, automotive, and sporting goods
industries [1]. Current trends toward the development of
carbon fibers have been driven in two directions; ultrahigh
tensile strength fiber with a fairly high strain to failure
(*2 %), and ultrahigh modulus fiber with high thermal
conductivity. Today, a number of ultrahigh tensile strength
PAN-based (more than 6 GPa), and ultrahigh modulus
pitch-based (more than 900 GPa) carbon fibers have been
commercially available. Naito et al. [2, 3] characterized the
tensile, flexural properties and Weibull modulus of ultra-
high strength PAN-based, ultrahigh modulus pitch-based
and high ductility pitch-based single carbon fibers.
In contrast, carbon nanotube (CNT) with the extremely
high tensile strength (*150 GPa) [4] has attracted atten-
tion as reinforcements, but they cannot grow as long,
continuous fibers. Although it is possible to obtain twisted
CNT yam that are continuous fibers, this strength is
exceedingly low compared to the carbon fibers [5, 6]. An
interesting technique to modify the carbon fiber is CNT
grafting on the carbon fiber surface. The grafting of CNT
on carbon fibers has been reported in the literature [7–9].
CNT can be grown on the carbon fibers by chemical vapor
deposition (CVD) [7, 8], electrodeposition [9], etc. CNT-
grafted carbon fibers offer the opportunity to add the
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051
potential benefits of nanoscale reinforcement to well-
established fibrous composites to create micro-nano mul-
tiscale hybrid composites [9–11]. However, the effect of
CNT grafting on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber
has not been fully evaluated. Naito et al. [12] reported that
the grafting of CNT improves the tensile strength and
Weibull modulus of ultrahigh strength PAN- and ultrahigh
modulus pitch-based carbon fibers. The growth of the
dense networks of CNT on carbon fibers may lead to
reduction of the strength-limiting defects, which in turn,
improves the tensile strength and Weibull modulus [12].
To evaluate the effect of gauge length on the tensile
strength is essentially important for understanding the
mechanical properties of the carbon fibers that contribute to
failure. The effects of gauge length on tensile properties of
carbon fibers have been reported in the literature [13–15].
Naito et al. also reported that the effect of gauge length on
tensile strength and Weibull modulus of PAN- and pitch-
based carbon fibers, and concluded that the Weibull mod-
ulus and the average tensile strength increased with
decreasing gauge length, a linear relation between the
Weibull modulus, the average tensile strength, and the
gauge length was established on log–log scale [16]. These
results also clearly showed that for PAN- and pitch-based
carbon fibers, there was a linear relation between the
Weibull modulus and the average tensile strength on log–
log scale [16].
In the present study, the tensile tests of single filaments
at several gauge length for CNT-grafted ultrahigh strength
PAN- and ultrahigh modulus pitch-based carbon fibers
were performed. The effect of gauge length on tensile
strength and Weibull modulus of CNT-grafted PAN- and
pitch-based carbon fibers were evaluated.
Experimental procedure
Materials
The carbon fibers used in this study were ultrahigh tensile
strength T1000GB PAN- and ultrahigh modulus K13D
pitch-based carbon fibers.1 The T1000GB PAN-based
carbon fiber was supplied from Toray Industries, Inc. The
K13D pitch-based carbon fiber was supplied from Mitsu-
bishi Plastics, Inc.
1 carbon fiber filament, and water was filled between them to
The cross-sections of the T1000GB PAN-based and the K13D
pitch-based carbon fibers are almost circular. The T1000GB fiber has
a particulate or granular microstructure. The K13D fiber has a sheet-
like microstructure. The fractured surfaces of the T1000GB PAN-
based carbon fiber show the initiation of failure from surface defects
and a rough, rather poorly defined granular texture. However, the
K13D pitch-based fiber obscures the initiation of failure and observes
the crystallite sheets are a result of pull out at failure [2, 3, 12].
8045
The physical properties of PAN- and pitch-based carbon
fibers are listed in Table 1. Both as-received fibers had
been subjected to commercial surface treatments and sizing
(epoxy compatible sizing).
To grow CNT on the carbon fibers, a Fe(C5H5)2 (fer-
rocene) catalyst was applied to the T1000GB and K13D
fiber bundles using thermal CVD in vacuum. Experimental
details on the synthesis technique of CNT can be found
elsewhere [7, 8]. Prior to the application of the catalyst, the
carbon fiber bundles were heat-treated at 750 °C for an
hour in vacuum to remove the sizing. The growth tem-
perature and time for the deposition of CNT were selected
as 750 °C (T1000GB) and 700 °C (K13D) for 900 s.
Tensile test
Single carbon filament specimens were prepared on the
stage with the help of a stereoscope. A single filament was
selected from carbon fiber bundles and cut perpendicular to
the fiber axis by a razor blade. The diameter of the single
as-received carbon fiber, df was measured using a laser
scanning microscope (Lasertec Corp., 1LM15 W) before
testing and a high resolution scanning electron microscope
(JEOL, JSM-6500F) during the fractured surface observa-
tion. No difference was observed between two techniques.
The diameter of the single CNT-grafted carbon fiber
without CNT, df was measured using a high resolution
scanning electron microscope (JEOL, JSM-6500F) during
the fractured surface observation. The measured fiber
diameters, df are shown in Table 1 (average diameters and
standard deviations are obtained from the same kind of all
carbon fibers at various gauge lengths). All specimens were
stored in a desiccator at 20 ± 3 °C and at 10 ± 5 % rel-
ative humidity prior to testing.
Tensile tests of single carbon fibers were performed
using a universal testing machine (Shimadzu, Table top
type tester EZ-Test) with a load cell of 10 N. The tensile
specimen was prepared by fixing the filament on a paper
holder with an instant high viscosity type cyanoacrylate
adhesive, as reported elsewhere [17, 18]. The specimen
was set up to the testing machine using active gripping
systems. To allow for ease of severing of the paper holder
and to avoid the fracture during gripping of the shorter
length samples (L = 1 and 5 mm), a scalpel was used to
widen the slot [14]. The holder was cut into two parts,
before testing. Plastic films were set on both sides of the
avoid secondary damage of the carbon fiber. The gauge
length, L of 1, 5, and 25 mm, and crosshead speed of
0.5 mm/min were applied. All tests were conducted under
the laboratory environment at room temperature (at
23 ± 3 °C and 50 ± 5 % relative humidity). Twenty
specimens were tested for all carbon fibers. The fracture
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8046 J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051

Table 1 Mechanical and physical properties of ultrahigh strength T1000GB PAN- and ultrahigh modulus K13D pitch-based carbon fibers
Fiber Gauge length L (mm) PAN-based Pitch-based
T1000GB K13D
T1000GB-12000-40D K13D2U
b
As-received CNT-grafted As-receivedb CNT-grafted
a
Filaments (Count) 12000 – 2000 –
a
Yield (Tex) (g/1000 m) 485 – 365 –
  
Densitya q g cm3 1.80 – 2.20 –
Average tensile strength rf:ave ðGPaÞ 1 8.98 (0.80) 8.97 (0.80) 5.12 (0.85) 5.16 (0.87)
5 7.71 (0.88) 8.23 (0.84) 4.00 (0.82) 4.65 (0.84)
12.5 6.27 (0.98) – 3.64 (0.87) –
25 5.69 (1.02) 6.73c (1.01) 3.21 (0.81) 4.09c (0.85)
50 5.03 (0.90) – 3.20 (0.86) –
100 4.81 (0.88) – – –
250 4.46 (0.84) – – –
Diameter df (lm) 5.06 (0.22) 5.06 (0.24) 11.68 (0.63) 11.65 (0.67)
Values in braces indicate standard deviations
T1000GB Catalog for TORAYCA, Toray Industries, Inc., High performance carbon fiber Torayca in Japanese. 2004, K13D catalog for
DIALEAD, Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc., High performance coal tar pitch carbon fiber. 2009
a
Producer’s data sheet
b
Single filament tensile data from previous investigation [2, 16]
c
Single filament tensile data (25 mm gauge length) from previous investigation [12]

surfaces of these carbon fibers were examined using a high
resolution scanning electron microscope (JEOL, JSM-
6500F) at an operating voltage of 5 kV.
Results
For all the carbon fibers, the stress applied to the specimen
was linearly proportional to the strain until failure. The
tensile fracture surfaces of the CNT-grafted and
as-received T1000GB PAN- and K13D pitch-based carbon
fibers at gauge length of 25 mm were showed in our
previous report [2, 12] and the fracture surfaces of the
remained for the CNT-grafted K13D fiber. Morimoto et al.
indicated the gauge length dependence on the Weibull
parameters of the silicon carbide (SiC: Tyranno ZMI
Si–Zr–C–O) fiber provided biased estimation and classified
the fracture surfaces into the characteristic fracture patterns
[19]. In this study, however, the fracture pattern differences
among the all gauge lengths for PAN- and pitch-based
carbon fibers were not observed and it was difficult to
classify the fracture surfaces of all carbon fibers into the
characteristic patterns.
The tensile strength, rf was calculated using:
Pmax
rf ¼ pd2  ; ð1Þ
4
f

CNT-grafted and as-received T1000GB PAN- and K13D

pitch-based carbon fibers at gauge lengths of 1 and 5 mm
were also observed in this study. Figures 1 and 2 show the
scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs of
transverse cross-sectional views for the tensile fractured
surfaces of the CNT-grafted and as-received T1000GB
PAN-based and K13D pitch-based carbon fibers at gauge
lengths of 1, 5 and 25 mm. The failure initiation sites were
clearly observed for the CNT-grafted and as-received
T1000GB fibers and the some of CNT were lost for the
CNT-grafted T1000GB fibers due to impact of fracture of
fiber. However, for the K13D carbon fiber, the failure
initiation sites were obscured for the CNT-grafted and
as-received K13D fibers and the almost CNT were
where Pmax is the maximum fracture load.
The average tensile strengths (rf.ave) at various gauge
length are summarized in Table 1 and the relation between
the enhancing ratio, ((rf.ave (CNT-grafted) - rf.ave (as-received))/
rf.ave (as-received)*100) and the gauge length, L ranging from
1 to 25 mm was shown in Fig. 3. These results show that
the average tensile strength of CNT grown on ultrahigh
strength T1000GB fiber at gauge length of 1, 5, and 25 mm
is 8.97 ± 0.80, 8.23 ± 0.84, and 6.73 ± 1.01 GPa [12],
which is 0, 7, and 18 % higher than that in the as-received
state (8.98 ± 0.80, 7.71 ± 0.88, and 5.69 ± 1.02 GPa [2,
12, 16]). The average tensile strength of CNT grown on
K13D fiber at gauge length of 1, 5, and 25 mm is

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J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051
Fig. 1 SEM micrographs of the tensile fractured surfaces showing
the transverse cross-section views of CNT-grafted and as-received
T1000GB PAN-based carbon fibers at gauge lengths of 1, 5 and
25 mm. a CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of 1 mm, b CNT-grafted
fiber at gauge length of 1 mm (high magnification), c CNT-grafted
fiber at gauge length of 5 mm, d CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of
5.16 ± 0.87, 4.65 ± 0.84, and 4.09 ± 0.85 GPa [12],
which is 1, 16, and 27 % higher than that in the as-received
state (5.12 ± 0.85, 4.00 ± 0.82, and 3.21 ± 0.81 GPa
[2, 12, 16]). Evidently, the grafting of CNT improved the
average tensile strength of PAN- and pitch-based carbon
fibers at gauge lengths of 5 and 25 mm. However, the
average tensile strength of CNT-grafted PAN- and pitch-
based carbon fibers at gauge length of 1 mm is almost
  m1 !
identical to that in the as-received state.
The results shown in Table 1 clearly indicate that there
is an appreciable scattering of tensile strength for these
carbon fibers. The statistical distribution of fiber strengths
is usually described by means of the Weibull equation [20].
The two-parameter Weibull distribution is given by
 
tensile modulus K13D pitch-based carbon fibers. A
L rf mf
PF ¼ 1  exp  ; ð2Þ
L0 r0
where PF is the cumulative probability of failure of a
carbon fiber of length L at applied tensile strength rf, mf is
the Weibull modulus (Weibull shape parameter) of the
carbon fiber, r0 a Weibull scale parameter (characteristic
stress), and L0 a reference gauge length. The cumulative
probability of failure, PF, under a particular stress is
given by
8047
5 mm (high magnification), e CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of
25 mm [12], f CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of 25 mm (high
magnification), g as-received fiber at gauge length of 1 mm [16],
h as-received fiber at gauge length of 5 mm [16], and i as-received
fiber at gauge length of 25 mm [2, 12, 16]
i
PF ¼ ; ð3Þ
nþ1
where i is the number of fibers that have broken at or below
a stress level and n is the total number of fibers tested.
Rearrangement of the two-parameter Weibull statistical
distribution expression (Eq. 2) gives the following:

1   L0 f
ln ln ¼ mf ln rf  mf ln r0 : ð4Þ
1  PF L
Hence the Weibull modulus, mf can be obtained by
linear regression from a Weibull plot of Eq. (4).
Figure 4 shows the Weibull plots of CNT grown on
ultrahigh tensile strength T1000GB PAN- and ultrahigh
threshold of the tensile strength was observed. The influ-
ence of threshold stress on the estimation of the Weibull
statistics was discussed by Lu et al. [21, 22]. It was con-
cluded that the two-parameter Weibull distribution is still a
preferred choice, if test specimens are limited in number
and threshold stress is not too large. As a result, the two-
parameter Weibull distribution was applied in this study.
The Weibull modulus, mf, for the CNT grown on
T1000GB and K13D fibers at gauge lengths of 1, 5, and
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8048
Fig. 2 SEM micrographs of the tensile fractured surfaces showing
the transverse cross-section views of CNT-grafted and as-received
K13D pitch-based carbon fibers at gauge lengths of 1, 5 and 25 mm.
a CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of 1 mm, b CNT-grafted fiber at
gauge length of 1 mm (high magnification), c CNT-grafted fiber at
gauge length of 5 mm, d CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of 5 mm
Fig. 3 Relation between the enhancing ratio and the gauge length for
T1000GB PAN- and K13D pitch-based carbon fibers
25 mm were calculated to be 11.92, 10.44, 7.15 [12], and
6.38, 5.75, 5.09 [12], respectively. The Weibull modulus,
mf, for the T1000GB and K13D fibers with sizing at gauge
lengths of 1, 5 and 25 mm were found to be 11.92, 9.24,
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J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051
(high magnification), e CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of 25 mm
[12], f CNT-grafted fiber at gauge length of 25 mm (high magnifi-
cation), g as-received fiber at gauge length of 1 mm [16],
h as-received fiber at gauge length of 5 mm [16], and i as-received
fiber at gauge length of 25 mm [2, 12, 16]
5.86 and 6.38, 5.24, 4.23, respectively [2, 12, 16]. The
results clearly show that the grafting of CNT improves the
Weibull modulus of PAN- and pitch-based carbon fibers at
gauge lengths of 5 and 25 mm. However, the Weibull
modulus of CNT-grafted PAN- and pitch-based carbon
fibers at gauge length of 1 mm is almost identical to that in
the as-received state as well.
The Weibull modulus (mf) of PAN- and pitch-based
carbon fibers at various gauge lengths were summarized in
Table 2.
Discussion
The grafting of CNT improved the tensile strengths and
Weibull modulus of T1000GB PAN- and K13D pitch-
based carbon fibers at the gauge length of 5 and 25 mm
(longer gauge length). However, the tensile strengths and
Weibull modulus of the CNT grafted T1000GB PAN- and
K13D pitch-based carbon fibers were almost similar to
those in the as-received state at the gauge length of 1 mm
(shorter gauge length). It is important to evaluate the
‘‘true’’ improvement of the CNT-grafted PAN- and pitch-
based carbon fibers. However, it is difficult to estimate the
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051
Fig. 4 Weibull plots for T1000GB PAN- and K13D pitch-based
carbon fibers at gauge lengths of 1, 5 and 25 mm. Open circle 1-mm
gauge length, open triangle 5 mm gauge length, open diamond
25-mm gauge length as-received carbon fibers, and filled circle 1-mm
gauge length, filled triangle 5-mm gauge length, filled diamond
25-mm gauge length CNT-grafted carbon fibers. a T1000GB PAN-
and b K13D pitch-based carbon fiber
‘‘true’’ improvement of the CNT-grafted carbon fibers
quantitatively.
It is considered that the characters of PAN- and pitch-
based carbon fibers are difficult to change in this CVD
process (maximum temperature is 750 °C) because both
the carbon fibers are heat-treated at more than 1000 °C
during the producing process and are relatively thermal
stable materials in an inactive atmosphere. The potential
(ideal) strengths of both carbon fibers are not changed. The
8049
effect of CNT grafting is observed in the surfaces and flaws
(surface and internal) of both carbon fibers which are
related to the lower tensile strengths of both fibers. The
grafting of CNT helps to reduce the lower strength (the
threshold strength) which is observed in the longer gauge
length. As a result, the average tensile strengths of both
carbon fibers increase and the strength distributions
decrease (the Weibull modulus is strongly related to the
strength distribution and the Weibull modulus increase). In
the shorter gauge length, the almost tensile strengths of
both carbon fibers observe in higher stress levels (more
than the threshold strengths of both fibers) which are
strongly related to the potential (ideal) strengths of both
carbon fibers. Therefore, the effect of grafting CNT is
disappeared and, the average tensile strengths, the strength
distributions (the Weibull modulus) of the CNT grafted on
both carbon fibers are almost similar to those in the
as-received state.
In our previous investigation [16], it was found that
when the gauge length of as-received T1000GB PAN- and
K13D pitch-based carbon fibers is less than 100 mm, the
Weibull modulus and the average tensile strength increased
with decreasing gauge length. Also, there is a linear rela-
tion between the Weibull modulus, the average tensile
strength and the gauge length on log–log scale. For the
CNT-grafted T1000GB PAN- and K13D pitch-based car-
bon fibers, there is also a linear relation between the
Weibull modulus, the average tensile strength and the
gauge length on log–log scale. Thus, the Weibull modulus
and the average tensile strength is given by
 a
L
mf ¼ ð5Þ
L0
  1
L0 mf
rf:ave ¼ r0 ð6Þ
L
where, L0, a and m*f are the characteristic length, the length
factor of Weibull modulus and the Weibull modulus
(Weibull shape parameter) obtained from the tensile
strength versuss the gauge length relations.
From Eqs. (5) and (6), the Weibull modulus is modified
  
rf:ave amf
mf ¼ : ð7Þ
r0
Rearrangement of the Eq. (7) gives the following:
lnðmf Þ ¼ a  mf lnðrf:ave Þ þ a  mf lnðr0 Þ: ð8Þ
Hence, there is a linear relation between the Weibull
modulus, mf and the average tensile strength, rf.ave on log–
log scale and this relation can be obtained from
experimental data.
Figure 5 shows the relation between the Weibull mod-
ulus, mf and the average tensile strength, rf.ave of the
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8050 J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051

Table 2 Weibull modulus of T1000GB PAN-based and K13D pitch-based carbon fibers at various gauge lengths
Fiber Gauge length L (mm) PAN-based Pitch-based
T1000GB K13D
As-receiveda CNT-grafted As-receiveda CNT-grafted

Weibull modulus mf 1 11.92 11.92 6.38 6.38

5 9.24 10.44 5.24 5.75
12.5 6.79 – 4.63 –
25 5.86 7.15b 4.23 5.09b
50 5.78 – 3.99 –
100 5.72 – – –
250 5.67 – – –
a
Single filament tensile data from previous investigation [2, 16]
b
Single filament tensile data (25 mm gauge length) from previous investigation [12]

CNT-grafted and as-received T1000GB PAN- and K13D
pitch-based carbon fibers. The results clearly show that for
both types of carbon fibers, the Weibull modulus increased
with increasing the average tensile strength. It is evident
that there is a linear relation between the Weibull modulus
and the average tensile strength of the CNT-grafted and
as-received PAN- and pitch-based carbon fibers on log–log
scale.
Fig. 5 Relation between the Weibull modulus and the average tensile
strength of the CNT-grafted and as-received T1000GB PAN-based
and K13D pitch-based carbon fibers. Open square as-received
T1000GB PAN-based, open diamond as-received K13D pitch-based
carbon fibers, and filled square CNT-grafted T1000GB PAN-based,
filled diamond CNT-grafted K13D pitch-based carbon fibers.
-am*f = 1.23 (T1000GB) and 0.94 (K13D)
This means that the high strengths of both carbon fibers
cause the narrow strength distributions. It is important to
consider this phenomenon. In the longer gauge length, the
surfaces (features and modifications) and the flaws (surface
and internal) of both carbon fibers strongly depend on the
tensile strengths of both carbon fibers. The strength dis-
tributions of both carbon fibers are varied from the lower
(related to the surfaces and flaws) to the higher stress
(related to the potential strength) levels. Therefore, the
average tensile strengths and the Weibull modulus of both
carbon fibers become lower value. However, in the shorter
gauge length, it is difficult to observe the lower tensile
strengths of both carbon fibers because the effect of sur-
faces and flaws on the tensile strengths becomes small. The
almost tensile strengths of both carbon fibers observe in the
higher stress level and the strength distributions of both
carbon fibers become narrow. As a result, the average
tensile strengths and the Weibull modulus of both carbon
fibers become higher value.
A potential mechanism for enhanced tensile strength at
longer gauge length is thought to be the three-dimensional
network structures of CNT. Figure 6 shows the schematic
model of CNT-grafted carbon fiber filament. The growth of
the dense networks of CNT on carbon fibers lead to
reduction of the strength-limiting defects. Especially, the
grafting of CNT healed the flaws (surface and internal) that
relate to lower tensile strength. In addition, it is highly
possible that the growth of CNTs on the fibers could
change the slippage regions to shorten effective gauge
length. These effects were similar to that of gauge length
on tensile strength for as-received carbon fibers. The
fracture behaviors of CNT-grafted carbon fiber at longer
gauge length could be seen as that of as-received
(ungrafted) carbon fiber at shorter gauge length, which in
turn, improves the tensile strength and Weibull modulus.

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J Mater Sci (2012) 47:8044–8051
Fig. 6 Schematic model of CNT-grafted carbon fiber filament
This result also observed in the tensile strength versus the
Weibull modulus relation as shown in Fig. 5.
Concluding remarks
The tensile properties of CNT grown on T1000GB PAN-
and K13D pitch-based single carbon fibers were performed
at gauge lengths of 1, 5 and 25 mm. The results are briefly
summarized.
(1) The grafting of CNT improves the tensile strength
and Weibull modulus of PAN- and pitch-based
carbon fibers with longer gauge length (C5 mm).
(2) The Weibull modulus increased with increasing the
average tensile strength of CNT-grafted PAN- and
pitch-based carbon fibers. There is a linear relation
between the Weibull modulus and the average tensile
strength of CNT-grafted and as-received PAN- and
pitch-based carbon fibers on log–log scale.
Acknowledgements This study was supported by JSPS (Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science) KAKENHI 22360282 and JST
(Japan Science and Technology Agency) through Advanced Low
Carbon Technology Research and Development Program (ALCA).
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