The growth of carbon nanostructures In the channels of aligned carbon nanotubes

摘要

Recently, tube-in-tube carbon nanostructures have attracted much attention [1-3], The multi-Interfaces and ulti-channels characteristics are suggested to be greatly beneficial for improvement or adjustment of mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTsj as well as for wide potential applications in catalysis, gas storage and lithium-ion batteries, etc. Among the strategies for preparation of carbon tube-in-tube structures, anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template method has been proved to be very effective and simple, because AAO itself can catalytically decompose hydrocarbon gases and deposit CNTs on the inner walls of its pores [4]. The AAO template-synthesized CNTs are of open ends and straight channels, which will facilitate to synthesize other materials inside these channels [5]. Che et al have reported the fabrication of inner carbon nano tubes within such CNTs using Fe nanoparicles as catalysts [1,3]. However, carbon material is so flexible that it can exist in the forms of not only nanotubes but also cage-shaped molecules [6], nanohorns [7], cones [8], coils [9] or other structures [10]. Therefore, it is important and practical to investigate the carbon structures and the influencing factors when synthesizing carbon materials in the confined growing space of carbon nanotube channels.