Carbon Microfibers Sheathed with Aligned Carbon Nanotubes: Towards Multidimensional, Multicomponent, and Multifunctional Nanomaterials

Abstract

Multicomponent and multifunctional hybrid structures based on microsized carbon fibers sheathed with aligned carbon nanotubes and their derivatives have been successfully prepared, and have been demonstrated to be an effective means for connecting nanoscale entities to the outside world and to possess interesting electrochemical properties attractive for a wide range of potential applications, including in methanol direct fuel cells and highly sensitive biological and chemical sensors. Judicious modification of the carbon-fiber-supported aligned carbon nanotubes with various functional moieties could lead to a class of novel multidimensional, multicomponent, and multifunctional materials of practical significance.

Synthesis and characterisation of carbon nanotubes grown on silica fibres by injection CVD

“…At high temperature, iron may diffuse into silica, forming iron oxide and an iron-silicon alloy [34,35]. Qu et al [36] has reported similar surface damage caused by the high-temperature pyrolysis of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) on silica-coated carbon fibres. Cross-sections of the damaged surface were prepared by FIB sectioning (Supplementary Information, Figure S1) and studied using TEM (Figure 3d, e).…”

Odako growth of dense arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes attached to carbon surfaces

“…Due to this, there has been an extensive effort to grow multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT) and nano-fibrillar carbon structures on carbon materials [9 14], with only a few recent studies, however, reporting high density MWNT growth. An alumina layer [9] or an SiO 2 [10] layer between the carbon surface and nanotubes is a necessary component to achieve reasonable growth. Direct growth on carbon surfaces [11 14] results in sparse nanotubes grown with low yields in concert with a surface potentially damaged by the catalyst layer.…”

The Intramolecular Junctions of Carbon Nanotubes

“…This hybrid material shows interesting electrochemical properties that are attractive for a wide range of potential applications, including in methanol direct fuel cells, and highly sensitive biological and chemical sensors. [246] …”