Preparation and Characterization of Carbon Nanofiber fromLiquid Phase Carbon Source

Abstract

Nanostructured carbon materials have been found to have applications in fuel cell electrodes, field emitters, electronic devices, sensors and electromagnetic absorbers, etc. Especially, the CNF (carbon nanofiber) can be expected to play an important role in catalyst supporters for fuel cell electrodes and chemical reactions. In this study, we synthesized CNF from a liquid phase carbon source by a solvothermal method. In addition, we studied the parameters for the preparation of CNF by controlling heating and cooling rates, synthesis temperature and time. We characterized the CNF by SEM/TEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and EDS. We found that the heating and cooling rate have strong effects on the CNF formation and growth. We were able to prepare the best CNF at the heating rate of 10 C/min, at 450 C for 60 minutes, and at the cooling rate of 4 C/min. As a result of Raman spectra, we found that the sample showed two characteristic Raman bands at ~1350 cm (D band) and ~1600 cm (G band). The G band indicates the original graphite feature, but the D band has been explained as a disorder feature of the carbon structure. The diameter and length of the CNF was about 15~20 nm, and over 1 µm, respectively.