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Growth of carbon micro-trees

Nature volume 404, page 243 (2000)Cite this article

Carbon deposition under extreme conditions causes tree-like structures to spring up.

Abstract

The complex deposition and growth of graphitic carbon has come up with several surprises in recent years, including the growth of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes1. Here we describe the spectacular growth of micron-sized tree-like carbon structures produced by chemical vapour deposition of methane without the use of any catalysts. Our results show that carbon surfaces can be tailored while they are growing simply by controlling the rate of deposition from the vapour phase.

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Figure 1: Carbon trees of different heights form on graphite electrodes, growing autocatalytically through the restructuring of newly deposited carbon surfaces.
Figure 2: Morphology and structure of autocatalytically grown carbon micro-trees.

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References

  1. Dresselhaus, M. S., Dresselhaus, G. & Eklund, P. C. Science of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes (Academic, New York, 1996).

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  2. Harvey, J., Clark, D. & Eastbrook, J. N. in Special Ceramics (ed. Popper, P.) 181–202 (Proc. Symp. Brit. Cer. Res. Assoc., Academic, London, 1963).

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  3. Endo, M., Saito, R., Dresselhaus, M. S. & Dresselhaus, G. in Carbon Nanotubes (ed. Ebbesen, T. W.) 35– 111 (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1997).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, 12180-3590, New York, USA

    P. M. Ajayan, J. M. Nugent & R. W. Siegel

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung , Seestrasse 92, Stuttgart, 70174, Germany

    B. Wei & Ph. Kohler-Redlich

Authors
  1. P. M. Ajayan
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  2. J. M. Nugent
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  3. R. W. Siegel
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  4. B. Wei
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  5. Ph. Kohler-Redlich
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Ajayan, P., Nugent, J., Siegel, R. et al. Growth of carbon micro-trees. Nature 404, 243 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35005161

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