US Patent 8048485 - Continuous production of carbon nanostructures

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/8048485.html

Most carbon nanotube production methods are batch processes and do not facilitate the continuous production of carbon nanotubes in large amounts. However, this patent from Qinetiq Limited teaches one method which may allow continuous deposition of CNT films for high throughput production. Claim 1 reads:

1. A process for growing carbon nanostructures, in which the nanostructures are grown on a continuous, elongate, heated catalytic substrate using chemical vapour deposition to form a coated substrate, the process involving movement of the continuous substrate through one or more deposition chambers, wherein the carbon nanostructures are grown in a continuous or semi-continuous manner, and wherein the deposited carbon nanostructures are removed from the substrate in a further continuous or semi-continuous step.