Epitaxial Growth of Aligned and Continuous Carbon Nanofibers from Carbon Nanotubes.
Exploiting the superior properties of nanomaterials at macroscopic scale is a key issue of nanoscience. Different from the integration strategy, "additive synthesis" of macroscopic structures from nanomaterial templates may be a promising choice. In this paper, we report the epitaxial growth of aligned, continuous, and catalyst-free carbon nanofiber thin films from carbon nanotube films. The fabrication process includes thickening of continuous carbon nanotube films by gas-phase pyrolytic carbon deposition and further graphitization of the carbon layer by high-temperature treatment. As-fabricated nanofibers in the film have an "annual ring" cross-section, with a carbon nanotube core and a graphitic periphery, indicating the templated growth mechanism. The absence of a distinct interface between the carbon nanotube template and the graphitic periphery further implies the epitaxial growth mechanism of the fiber. The mechanically robust thin film with tunable fiber diameters from tens of nanometers to several micrometers possesses low density, high electrical conductivity, and high thermal conductivity. Further extension of this fabrication method to enhance carbon nanotube yarns is also demonstrated, resulting in yarns with ∼4-fold increased tensile strength and ∼10-fold increased Young's modulus. The aligned and continuous features of the films together with their outstanding physical and chemical properties would certainly promote the large-scale applications of carbon nanofibers.
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.|Fert Beijing Research Institute, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, BDBC, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, China.
Xiaoyang
X
Lin
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Wei
W
Zhao
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, China.
Wenbin
W
Zhou
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Peng
0000-0002-1860-5126
P
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Shu
S
Luo
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Haoming
H
Wei
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology , Shanghai 200093, China.
Guangzhi
G
Yang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology , Shanghai 200093, China.
Junhe
J
Yang
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, China.
Jie
J
Cui
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, China.
Richeng
0000-0002-8086-0910
R
Yu
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Lina
L
Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Jiaping
J
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Qunqing
Q
Li
Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, China.
Weiya
W
Zhou
Fert Beijing Research Institute, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, BDBC, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, China.
Weisheng
W
Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Shoushan
S
Fan
State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics & Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center, Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Tsinghua University , Beijing 100084, China.
Kaili
K
Jiang
additive synthesis; aligned; carbon nanofiber; carbon nanotube; continuous