Synthesis of carbon nanofibres from a liquid solution containing both catalyst and polyethylene glycol

Carbon nanofibres (CNFs) exhibiting bamboo-like, hollow fibril morphology were prepared from a mixture of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and iron-based compounds such as Fe(2)(SO(4))(3)·nH(2)O, Fe(NO(3))·9H(2)O or FeO(OH) by a thermal process. These materials were well mixed in distilled water prior to thermal treatment in an air/nitrogen atmosphere. With increasing temperature, the mixture underwent solvent removal, dehydrogenation, thermal decomposition, carbonization and catalytic graphitization to form CNFs. Results show that CNFs can be formed with different PEG/catalyst ratios (100/1-1000/1 by weight) at 750 °C. The catalyst effect is discussed for the formation of bamboo-like CNFs. The diameter of the CNFs was about 30-50 nm while the length was a few micrometres.