Recent advances in microwave initiated synthesis of nanocarbon materials

This Feature Article focuses on the recent advances in synthesis of nanostructured carbon materials using microwave irradiation as the heating source. Although the microwave approach to chemical synthesis is relatively mature in organic synthesis, it is still in the early stage for nanomaterials synthesis, especially nanocarbons. Due to the energy efficient nature of microwave heating, there is a great opportunity to apply microwave irradiation to nanocarbon production, which normally requires high temperature, high vacuum or inert gas protections. Using microwave irradiation will give a green feature to the nanocarbon synthesis, since it offers high efficiency heating and fast carbonization. With our recent discovery, multi-walled carbon nanotubes can be synthesized through the microwave process even in air. Background about nanocarbons and microwave chemistry are introduced, the application of microwaves in synthesis of different types of nanocarbons is discussed and finally, the perspectives in the future research directions of microwave assisted nanocarbon synthesis are deliberated as well.