一种新的纳米结构——管状石墨锥

A novel nanostructure——tubular graphite cones

文章作者利用微波等离子体辅助化学气相沉积的方法在铁针尖上合成了一种新的纳米结构 ,并称之为管状石墨锥 .管状石墨锥在外形上由多面锥体组成 ,其内部是同心的圆柱形石墨层 ,其空心的直径为几个纳米到几十个纳米 .这些管状石墨层从内到外地逐渐变短 ,从而使得它们呈现出锥形外观 .锥的顶角一般为 6— 7度左右 ,锥的尖端只有几个纳米大小 ,而锥的底部可达到微米量级 .值得注意的是 ,组成管状锥体的石墨层具有惟一的手性 。

We report the synthesis of tubular graphite cones using a chemical vapor deposition method. The cones have nanometer size tips, micromete r size roots and hollow interiors with a diameter ranging from about 2 to severa l tens of nanometers. The cones are composed of cylindrical graphite sheets; a c ontinuous shortening of the graphite layers from the interior to the exterior ma kes them cone\|shaped. All of the tubular graphite cones have the faceted morpho logy and all of the constituent graphite sheets have identical chiralities of zi gzag types across the entire diameter, thus structural control for tubular based carbon structures has been achieved. The tubular graphite cones have potential use as tips for scanning probe microscopy, but with greater rigidity and easier mounting than currently used carbon nanotubes.