Synthesis and characterization of amorphous carbon nanowires

By heating a pressed tablet of graphite powder mixed with nickel in a quartz tube mounted inside a high-temperature tube furnace at 1200 degrees C, amorphous carbon nanowires were formed on the inner wall of the quartz tube near a copper cooling finger. Bright-field images of transmission electron microscopy show that the diameters of the nanowires are around 40 nm. Selected-area electron diffraction and Raman study reveal that the nanowires have an amorphous structure. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)05045-7]