CARBON FIBER NONWOVEN BAND-SHAPED ARTICLE AND ITS MANUFACTURE METHOD

The present invention relates to a carbon fiber nonwoven band-shaped article obtained by cutting a needle-punch nonwoven fabric of carbon fiber, wherein the carbon fiber is primarily oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to a cut face of the band-shaped article. The band-shaped article can be manufactured by needle-punching a laminate web in which staples of fire-resistant fibers are oriented in substantially one direction, carbonizing an obtained nonwoven fabric by sintering and then cutting a carbonized nonwoven fabric in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of an orientation of the staples. This band-shaped article makes it possible to significantly heighten a degree of orientation of the carbon fiber in the direction of a radius from a center of an anode chamber when it is used as electrode materials for a sodium-sulfur cell and laminated in a form of a spiral cylinder such that the cut face of the band-shaped article constitutes a peripheral wall surface, to thereby be able to make an electrode have very high energy efficiency.