Low-temperature preparation of tailored carbon nanostructures in water.

Szilluweit, Ruth; Hoheisel, Tobias N; Fritzsche, Martin; Ketterer, Bernt; Fontcuberta i Morral, Anna; Demurtas, Davide; Laporte, Vincent; Verel, René et al. · Nano Lett · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The development of low-temperature carbonization procedures promises to provide novel nanostructured carbon materials that are of high current interest in materials science and technology. Here, we report a "wet-chemical" carbonization method that utilizes hexayne amphiphiles as metastable carbon precursors. Nearly perfect control of the nanoscopic morphology was achieved by self-assembly of the precursors into colloidal aggregates with tailored diameter in water. Subsequent carbonization furnished carbon nanocapsules with a carbon microstructure resembling graphite-like amorphous carbon materials.