Electons' eyeview of buckytubes and friends

Abstract

Synthesis, characterization and properties of various all-carbon molecules, the fullerene family (buckyballs), have been on the research forefront since the large scale production scheme developed by Krätschmer et al. Recently, Iijima and coworkers have reported TEM observations of hollow graphitic tubules of nanometer scale (buckytubes). In particular, the large scale buckytube synthesis method of Ebbesen and Ajayan has stirred considerable interest similar to that after the Krätschmer et al. discovery of large scale buckyball synthesis.We have synthesized gram-scale quantities of buckytubes and their derivatives based on an arc method similar to that of Ebbesen and Ajayan. The arc was formed between a 1” and a 1/2 “ diameter graphite rods under 100 torr atmosphere of helium at a current of 180-200 Amps and a voltage of 20-30 V. The cross section of the resulting build-up rod consists of a gray core, followed by a black ring and another gray shell.