Growth of ~50 nm-diameter multi-walled carbon nanocoils

However, in spite of the tremendous efforts to produce contrary, the vast majority of CNCs are amorphous, exhibiting larger fiber and coil diameters than carbon nanotubes.

In an attempt to resolve this issue, Masashi Yokota and colleagues at Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan report the growth of thin CNCs with coil diameters of 50 nm by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD).

The thin CNCs were synthesized by the following procedure: mixing Fe and Sn powders and Y-type zeolite in dilute hydrochloric acid solution; sonicating the resulting solution and drying in a furnace; passing a gas mixture of C2H2/N2 over the zeolite with the Fe and Sn catalysts in a quartz tube reactor at 700°C.

The thin CNCs had fiber and coil diameters of 15 nm and 50 nm, respectively, with a hollow and multi-walled structure of cylindrical graphitic layers. The researchers refer to the thin CNCs as ‘multi-walled CNC’, which had a left hand helix that was confirmed by electron tomography.

Reducing the diameter of the CNCs induced the structural changes from amorphous to graphitic, which implies the enhancement of the electrical as well as mechanical characteristics. This multi-walled CNCs may find applications in battery technology and nanoelectromechanical systems.

Reference:
Masashi Yokota, Yoshiyuki Suda, Hirofumi Takikawa, Hitoshi Ue, Kazuki Shimizu, and Yoshito Umeda.Structural analysis of multi-walled carbon nanocoils synthesized with Fe-Sn catalyst supported on zeolite.Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 11, 2344–2348 (2011).Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1166/jnn.2011.3126Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology.Department website: http://www.tut.ac.jp/english/introduction/department02.html

Media Contact

Yoshiyuki Suda Toyohashi University

All latest news from the category: Power and Electrical Engineering

This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.

innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Results for control of pollutants in water

Brazilian scientists tested a simple and sustainable method for monitoring and degrading a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, compounds present in fossil fuels and industrial waste. An article published in the journal Catalysis…

A tandem approach for better solar cells

Perovskite-based solar cells were first proved in 2009 to have excellent light-absorbing properties of methylammonium lead bromide and methylammonium lead iodide, collectively referred to as lead halide perovskites or, more…

The behavior of ant queens is shaped by their social environment

Specialization of ant queens as mere egg-layers is reversible / Queen behavioral specialization is initiated and maintained by the presence of workers. The queens in colonies of social insects, such…

Partners & Sponsors