The Effect of the Shape of the Catalyst on the Morphologies of the Carbon Fibers

Catalytic grown carbon fibers have been synthesized by the decomposition of carbon‐containing gases over copper substrate. Metal nitrate was used as the catalyst precursor for the catalyst necessary for the carbon fiber growth. The structural characteristics of the carbon product were assessed from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM studies have revealed that catalysts have a tremendous impact on the control of the growth characteristics of carbon fibers, and there is a relation between the morphology of the carbon fibers and that of the catalyst.

Keywords:

• catalyst
• carbon fibers
• catalytic decomposition

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prof. X. M. Meng of Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of CAS for the aid in SEM analysis, F. Yan of capital normal university for aid in Raman spectroscopic characterization and Prof. X. D. Xu of Beijing University of Technology for the assistance in TEM analysis for the assistance in TEM characterization. One of Authors (X. P. Zou) thanks the partial financial support from Founding Project for Academic Human Resources Development in Institutions of Higher Learning under the Jurisdiction of Beijing, Founding Program of Science & Technology Activity for Chinese Homecoming Fellow Abroad, program of Beijing Key Lab for Sensor (No. 66062021).