Synthesis and characterizations of amorphous carbon nanotubes by pyrolysis of ferrocene confined within AAM templates.

ABSTRACT

Amorphous carbon nanotubes (a-CNTs) are synthesized by pyrolysis of ferrocene confined in the nanopores of the anodic alumina membrane (AAM) and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), and Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that the a-CNT has an ultrathin amorphous wall (approximately 3 nm) and a relatively large diameter (approximately 50 nm), and is capsulated with iron oxide nanoparticles. It is found that the growth of the a-CNTs is governed mainly by the template limitation effect. Electrical transport measurements on individual a-CNTs demonstrate that the a-CNT may be connected with electrodes via either ohmic or Schottky contacts, and the resisitivity of the a-CNTs was measured to be 4.5 x 10(-3) Omega cm.