Fig. 1: General schematic of the C–C coupling mechanism leading to long fibres.
From: Metal-catalyst-free gas-phase synthesis of long-chain hydrocarbons
a Pictorial views of the DFT-optimised first steps for the growth of an alkane on a model (random generated) amorphous C-NPs by sequential addition of CH2 groups. b SEM image of a mat of fibres collected on a silicon surface. c ex situ AFM image of a typical individual fibre collected on a silicon surface. The bright spots correspond to amorphous C-NPs that are also produced (colour scale 0 nm, 
30 nm). d Cs-corrected HR-TEM image of an individual fibre where locally ordered regions can be easily distinguished. e High-magnification image of those regions.
