Patent ID: 8652391

Claim:
A method of forming a substrate carrier, the method comprising the steps of: preparing a liquid dispersion of carbon fibers, wherein the carbon fibers have side walls and ends and comprise single wall carbon nanotubes, multiple wall carbon nanotubes, or a combination thereof, the side walls of the carbon fibers, exclusive of the ends, being functionalized such that they comprise functional groups on an exterior of the side walls for covalently bonding with a thermoplastic polymer, injecting the liquid dispersion of carbon fibers within an extruder having the thermoplastic polymer within the extruder, wherein the liquid dispersion of carbon fibers comprises an aqueous dispersion of carbon fibers and a stabilizer selected from a group consisting of ethyl vinyl acetate, poly(vinyl alcohol) and combinations thereof, applying shear to blend the carbon fibers within the thermoplastic polymer and covalently bond the thermoplastic polymer to side walls of the carbon fiber to form a composite, wherein at least about 25 weight percent of the carbon fibers are covalently bonded to the thermoplastic polymer, and injecting the composite into a mold for a substrate carrier component.