An innovative technique has been developed to obtain the uniform catalyst coating on continuously moving carbon fibers. Carbon nanotube (CNT)-grafted carbon fibers with significantly improved tensile strength have been succeeded to produce by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) when compared to the tensile strength of untreated carbon fibers. The critical requirements for preparation of CNT-grafted carbon fibers with high tensile strength have been found, mainly including (i) the obtainment of uniform coating of catalyst particles with small particle size, (ii) the low catalyst-induced and mechano-chemical degradation of carbon fibers, and (iii) the high catalyst activity which could facilitate the healing and strengthening of carbon fibers during the growth of CNTs. The optimum growth temperature was found to be about 500 degrees C, and the optimum catalyst is Ni due to its highest activity, there is a pronounced increase of 10% in tensile strength of carbon fibers after CNT growth at 500 degrees C by using Ni catalyst. Based on the observation from HRTEM images, a healing and crosslink model of neighboring carbon crystals by CNTs has been formulated to reveal the main reason that causes an increase in tensile strength of carbon fibers after the growth of CNTs. Such results have provided the theoretical and experimental foundation for the large-scale preparation of CNT-grafted carbon fibers with the improved tensile strength, significantly promoting the development of CNT-grafted carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.