Electron Microscopy Study of Y-shaped Carbon Fibers with Different Morphologies

摘要

A series of techniques, including field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were employed to investigate three types of Y-shaped carbon fibers that were synthesized by the thermal decomposition of acetylene using an atmospheric pressure catalytic chemical vapor deposition process and copper tartrate as a catalyst precursor. On the basis of electron microscopy analysis, we propose that the simultaneous growth of three pieces of carbon fibers on the same copper catalyst particle results in the formation of Y-shaped carbon fibers. When several copper catalyst particles became positioned in a stratified arrangement, other types of Y-shaped carbon fibers were obtained. Our study indicates that the morphology of various Y-shaped carbon fibers can be controlled by tailoring the configuration of the copper catalyst particles used to generate them.