Alloy nanowires: Invar inside carbon nanotubes

N. Grobert; M. Mayne; M. Terrones; J. Sloan; R. E. Dunin-Borkowski; R. Kamalakaran; T. Seeger; H. Terrones; M. Rühle; D. R. M. Walton; H. W. Kroto; J. L. Hutchison

doi:10.1039/B100190F

Alloy nanowires: Invar inside carbon nanotubes

N. Grobert,^a M. Mayne,†^a M. Terrones,^b J. Sloan,^d R. E. Dunin-Borkowski,^e R. Kamalakaran,^b T. Seeger,^b H. Terrones,^c M. Rühle,^b D. R. M. Walton,*^a H. W. Kroto^a and J. L. Hutchison^e

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* Corresponding authors

^a School of Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
E-mail: D.Walton@sussex.ac.uk

^b Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Seestraße 92, Stuttgart, Germany

^c Instituto de Física, Laboratorio Juriquilla, UNAM, A.P. 1-1010, Querétaro, México

^d Wolfson Catalysis Centre (Carbon Nanotechnology Group), Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK

^e Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, UK

Abstract

Invar (Fe₆₅Ni₃₅), a ‘zero’ thermal expansion alloy consisting of Fe and Ni, has been successfully introduced into carbon nanotubes by pyrolysing, at 800 °C, aerosols of NiCp₂/FeCp₂ mixtures dissolved in C₆H₆; scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies reveal the presence of flake-like structures (ca. 1–2 mm²) consisting of filled/aligned carbon nanotubes (⩽200 μm in length and ⩽80 nm in diameter) in a carpet pile-like configuration; analysis of the filling material (⩽500 nm in length and ⩽40 nm in diameter) by X-ray powder diffraction and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) line scans, confirmed that Invar was formed; this appears, to the best of our knowledge, to be the first report of mixed metal alloy nanowires forming inside carbon nanotubes.

Chemical Communications

Alloy nanowires: Invar inside carbon nanotubes

Abstract

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Alloy nanowires: Invar inside carbon nanotubes

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