Abstract: Carbon microcoils (CMCs) attracts researchers’ attention due to their unique three-dimensional helical structure. The research of the carbon microcoils on the fabrication methods and influence play a prominent role in discussing the growth mechanism.CMCs is a kind of carbon fiber with regular coils or twisted structures, and mainly includes single-helix and double-helix carbon microcoils. CMCs not only has the similar excellent properties as carbon fiber, such as low density, high tensile strength, high tensile modulus, high thermal conductivity, high electric conductivity, electromagnetic shielding, but also shows anisotropy in mechanical properties, thermal properties and electrical properties. Carbon microcoils perform good elasticity, unique electromagnetism and biological catalysis, indicating its potential applications in electronic devices, chiral catalytic, intelligent materials, stealth absorbing materials, high performance and multifunctional composites. However, it has been the difficulty and the key points of the research to obtain the regular helix shape, chiral resolving, dispersion and mass control preparation of CMCs. In recent years, researchers have explored the growth mechanism and growth kinetics of CMCs by constructing a applicable growth model, and the result reveals that the accelerant , crystal form and size of catalyst have crucial impact on CMCs structure. Recently, CMCs with regular morphology and homogeneous structure has been obtained through regulating the fabrication conditions, and successfully applied in various fields. In order to enhance the comprehensive properties of composites, CMCs is added in working as filler, which can extend the composites application. This review offers a retrospection of the research efforts with respect to thefabrication and growth mechanism of CMCs, and provides a accuratel descriptions about the fabrication factors and the research on the growth mechanisms of CMCs. The growth mechanisms of CMCs are speculated and discussed through the difference of CMCs from various conditions of preparation methods, types of carbon sources, reaction temperature, catalysts, accelerators and the ratio of carbon source to hydrogen gas intake. In this review, the future development of CMCs and problems which needs to be solved at this stage are proposed,which could be the reference for controllable preparation and industrialization of CMCs.
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Yanyu Luo received her B E degree in applied chemistry from Huaqiao University in 2015. She is postgraduate student in the College of Materials Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University and under the supervision of Prof. Guohua Chen. Her research field is preparation and application of functional materials. 罗妍钰,2015年毕业于华侨大学,获得工学学士学位。现为华侨大学材料科学与工程学院硕士研究生,在陈国华教授指导下进行研究。目前主要的研究领域为功能材料制备与应用。
Guohua Chen received the B E degree from Huaqiao University in 1984 and received the Ph D degree in Materials Sciencse and Engineering at Tianjin University. He was selected to the ministry of education in the new century excellent talents support program in 2004, and joined “double hundred” talent project in Fujian province in 2016. He is also the member of the expert committee and standard committee in the Chinese graphene industry innovation alliance, director of the graphene powder and composite materials’ research center of Fujian province, He has been in charge of five National Natural Science Foundation projects and sevral Science and Technology projects in Fujian province. His research interests focus in the exfoliation of graphite and the preparation of graphene and the composite functional materials. He has published more than 80 papers abstracted in SCI, and with 3 500 total cited.
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2018, Vol. 32 
