Carbon nanofibers uniformly grown on γ-alumina washcoated cordierite monoliths

A uniform layer of carbon nanofibers is grown on a cordierite monolith by first coating the monolith with a thin layer of gamma-alumina. The nanofibers form a thick, uniform layer on the monolith walls as shown in the figure, leading to the formation of a mesoporous and mechanically robust composite. The absence of microporosity in the composite and the ability to tune the thickness of the nanofiber layer suggests that these nanofibers/monolith composites may be useful as catalyst supports for liquid-phase catalytic reactions.