Title: Room-temperature synthesis and characterisation of ion-induced iron-carbon nanocomposite fibres

Authors: Zhipeng Wang, Kohei Yamaguchi, Daiki Takeuchi, Yasuhiko Hayashi, Masaki Tanemura

Addresses: Department of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan. ' Department of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan. ' Department of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan. ' Department of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan. ' Department of Environmental Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan

Abstract: Graphite plates were Ar⁺ ion-irradiated with and without a simultaneous Fe supply at room temperature. The surfaces ion-irradiated without an Fe supply were covered with densely distributed conical projections with a carbon nanofibre (CNF) on the top. The CNFs thus grown were 20-50 nm in diameter and 0.3-2 µm in length. By contrast, the graphite surfaces ion-bombarded with a simultaneous Fe supply were characterised by various kinds of carbon composites, such as conical protrusions with and without a single carbon nanocomposite fibre (CNCF) on the top, depending on the Fe supply rates. As confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM), the CNCFs thus grown were amorphous-like and possessed no hollow structure. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis disclosed that CNCFs consisted of carbon and iron, and quite fine Fe crystallites were dispersed over the CNCF. Since various metals can be incorporated into the room-temperature grown carbon nanofibres, this ion-irradiation method is believed to be promising as a new approach to synthesise one-dimensional (1-D) nanomaterials at low temperatures.

Keywords: graphite; ion beam; carbon nanofibres; iron; nanocomposite fibres; field emission; room temperature; synthesis; characterisation; iron-carbon nanocomposites; nanotechnology; ion irradiation; nanomaterials; low temperatures.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2009.025313

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2009 Vol.6 No.7/8, pp.753 - 761

Published online: 18 May 2009 *

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