Abstract
A carbon nanoreactor concept was applied to study the stabilization effect of carbon shell on phase composition and morphology of dodecacalcium hepta-aluminate Ca12Al14O33. The starting C12A7 powder was obtained using aluminum and calcium hydroxides as precursors. Carbon shell was formed by a chemical vapor deposition of divinyl at 550 °C. After the calcination at 1400 °C, the product was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). It was observed for a first time that spontaneous formation of calcium aluminate whiskers take place under the conditions described. Each whisker consists of a ‘head’ (globular particle of 0.5 microns in diameter) and a ‘tail’ (prolonged whisker of few microns in length and 0.1–0.2 microns in diameter). According to HRTEM, the ‘head’ is characterized with microcrystal lattice of Ca12Al14O33 compound. XRD data show the presence of CaAl2O4 phase traces. The ‘head’ and ‘tail’ of the whisker are covered with structured graphene layers of 10 nm and 3 nm, correspondingly.
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