The Growth of New Extended Carbon Nanophases from Ferrocene Inside Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the formation of new extended carbon nanophases inside single-walled carbon nanotubes through ferrocene filling, revealing strong Raman signals and nanoribbon structures similar to quaterrylene and terrylene.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of growing extended carbon nanophases inside SWCNTs using ferrocene, with detailed analysis of their structure and growth conditions.

Findings

Strong Raman response from new nanophases exceeds that of the tubes

Identification of nanoribbons similar to quaterrylene and terrylene

Growth controlled by two activation energies

Abstract

The Raman response of new structures grown after filling SWCNTs with ferrocene and transformation at moderate high temperatures is demonstrated to be very strong, even stronger than the response from the tubes. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrates that the new objects are flat and exhibit a structure similar to short fragments of nanoribbons. The growth process is controlled by two different activation energies for low and high transformation temperatures, respectively. Immediately after filling Raman pattern from a precursor molecule are detected. Two different types of nanoribbons were identified by selecting special laser energies for the Raman excitation. These ribbons have the signature of quaterrylene and terrylene, respectively.