Carbon nanocoating: an effective nanoreactor towards well-defined carbon-coated GaN hollow nanospindles

Carbon-coated GaN hollow nanospindles with uniform morphology and good structural stability are facilely prepared by nitridizing solid carbon-coated GaOOH nanospindles in an ammonia atmosphere at 800 °C for 2 h. The carbon nanocoating acts as a nanoreactor which not only preserves the spindle-like morphology, but also prevents the growth of GaN particles during the thermal treatment. The significant advantage is that the hollow nanostructures so obtained exhibit superior resistance to distortion, collapse, and shrinkage.