Several features of the iron-included onion-like fullerenes

doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2005.12.106

Materials Letters

Volume 60, Issue 16, July 2006, Pages 2042-2045

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2005.12.106 Get rights and content

Abstract

Iron-included onion-like fullerenes (OLFs) were produced by pyrolysis of ferrocene and C₂H₂ in hydrogen and argon. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) show that the resulting materials consist of only iron-included OLFs without any nanotubes. The formation mechanism of iron-included OLFs was discussed briefly. Structure and composition of the products were characterized by XRD analysis, Raman scattering spectrum, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and heat treatment.

Introduction

Following the discovery of a method for the preparation of fullerenes in macroscopic quantities by Krätschmer et al. [1], the novel spherical carbon-based materials have attracted much attention in the materials science community over the last decade. The synthesis of carbon clusters in the onion-like form and the encapsulation of foreign materials into them have enlarged the technological promise of this novel form of carbon.

Metal-included OLFs may have applications in a number of different fields. For example, those nanoparticles containing magnetic materials might be used in areas such as magnetic data storage, xerography and magnetic resonance imaging [2], [3]. The role of the carbon layer would be to isolate the particles magnetically from each other, thus avoiding the problems caused by interactions between closely spaced magnetic bits, and provide oxidation resistance.

Various techniques have been developed for synthesizing metal-included OLFs, such as standard/modified carbon arc techniques [4], [5], [6], RF plasma torch technique [7], durene and ferrocene under autogeneous pressure [8], explosive decomposition of organometal [9], [10] and chemical vapor deposition [11], [12]. Using preparation methods similar to that reported by Sano [13], but different processes, we synthesized large amount of iron-included OLFs and CNTs selectively.

Section snippets

Experimental

The experimental setup is almost identical to the equipment reported previously [13]. The pyrolysis reactor inner diameter of the quartz tube 30 mm, effective heating length 720 mm is heated by a single furnace fitted with temperature controller. The flow rates of the gases were controlled using the UNIT mass flow controllers. The typical flow rates for hydrogen, Ar and C₂H₂ gases were 100, 300 and 30 sccm (sccm=standard cubic centimeter per minute) respectively, such that 1 g of ferrocene

Results and discussion

Ferrocene is a highly volatile organometallic compound with excellent vaporizability. Its decomposition temperature in the gas phase was reported to be higher than 400 °C [14]. In our experiments, decomposition of ferrocene in the Ar and H₂ as carrying gases at 950 °C yielded iron-included OLFs (Fig. 1). But when the only Ar was used as carrying gas, two kinds of fullerene encapsulations exist. One is a metallic nanocluster encapsulated by an onion (10–20%) and the other is that encapsulated by

Summary

In summary, iron-included OLFs were formed by pyrolysis ferrocene and C₂H₂ in H₂ and Ar streams through a cylindrical furnace with a temperature at 950 °C in its center. The resulting carbon structure morphology was influenced by different carrying gas. XRD showed that the presenting metal particle is iron carbide. Raman scattering spectra show that the G peak of iron-included OLFs has slightly upshift from the position 1582 cm^− 1 known for a pure graphite, which is interpreted as an influence

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.90306014, N0.20271037), Joint Project of NSFS and JSPS (No.50311140138) and Natural Science Fund of Shanxi Province of China (N0.20031021, No.20031049).

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Several features of the iron-included onion-like fullerenes

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental

Results and discussion

Summary

Acknowledgements

J. Magn. Mater.

Fuel Process. Technol.

Chem. Phys. Lett.

Carbon

Chem. Phys. Lett.

Carbon

Carbon

Carbon

Biomaterials

Nature

J. Appl. Phys.