Electronic Structure and Resonant X-ray Emission Spectra of Carbon Shells of Iron Nanoparticles

TL;DR

This study investigates the electronic structure of carbon shells in iron nanoparticles using X-ray spectroscopy and compares the results with density functional calculations, revealing that the shells resemble graphene layers with defects.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the structure of carbon shells in Fe@C nanoparticles, showing they are similar to defective graphene layers based on spectroscopic and computational analysis.

Findings

Carbon shells resemble several graphene layers with Stone-Wales defects.

Resonant X-ray emission spectra reveal energy band dispersion.

Spectroscopic data align with density functional calculations.

Abstract

The electronic structure of carbon shells of carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles carbon encapsulated Fe@C has been studied by X-ray resonant emission and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The recorded spectra have been compared to the density functional calculations of the electronic structure of graphene. It has been shown that an Fe@C carbon shell can be represented in the form of several graphene layers with Stone-Wales defects. The dispersion of energy bands of Fe@C has been examined using the measured C Ka resonant X-ray emission spectra.