Patent ID: 7589143

Claim:
A method for reducing cure shrinkage of a thermoset resin, the method comprising: forming a plurality of surface modified nanofibers, the plurality of surface modified nanofibers being formed by: soaking a plurality of nanofibers in an oxidizing acidic solvent; adding an oxidizing agent to the soaking nanofibers, thereby generating heat sufficient for at least one of in-situ oxidation and in-situ exfoliation of a subsurface of each of the plurality of nanofibers; removing excess oxidizing agent and oxidizing acidic solvent from the plurality of nanofibers; and drying the plurality of nanofibers, thereby forming the plurality of surface modified nanofibers having reduced surface hydrophobicity; and substantially uniformly dispersing the plurality of surface modified nanofibers into the thermoset resin, the plurality of surface modified nanofibers adapted to reduce cure shrinkage of the thermoset resin during subsequent curing processes.