Precursor‐Controlled Formation of Novel Carbon/Metal and Carbon/Metal Oxide Nanocomposites

Abstract

Carbonaceous materials have long been considered as a high-performance material due to their light weight, high thermal resistance, tunable porosity and strength, but also because of their exciting electronic properties. When hybridized with other metal nanoparticles to form carbon/ metal nanocomposites (CMCs), multifunctionality is achieved through the combination of carbon and metal, leading to interesting magnetic materials, catalysts, battery electrodes, or chemical sensors. Various methods for preparing CMCs have been developed. In most cases, metal cations deposited on carbonaceous materials were reduced chemically or physically to form CMCs. In these processes, heterogeneous dispersion and agglomeration of the particles are problematic. Although carefully handled pyrolysis of organic/metal complexes can avoid strong agglomeration and obtain welldispersed particles in the carbon matrix, effective adjustment of the structure of CMCs is challenging due to the difficulty of controlling molecular interactions at high temperatures. It is known that the precursor structure influences the structure of the carbon materials. Recently, the solid-state pyrolysis of well-defined, carbon-rich precursors into carbonaceous particles with unique structures demonstrated the close relationship between precursor and product, which stimulated the concept of precursor-controlled thermolysis towards defined carbon materials.