CNF (Carbon Nano Flower)

A flower is bloomed in the nano-world.
This is a SEM image of the growing point of a Carbon Nano Fiber (CNF) with which this has been in the limelight in the nano-technology field. CNFs are grown into some different directions from a Fe catalyst core by the vapor phase epitaxy growth. Flower portion is consist of the cross section of CNFs, and the growth process can be seen from this.
The size of CNF is in the middle of carbon fiber and carbon nano tube, and it has been already put in practical use in industrial fields, such as strengthening of various conductive resins or as a composite material, or parts of a fuel cell.
It appears as if it was celebrating the advent of in the nanotechnology world.