FIBROUS DIAMOND AND DIAMOND-COATED GRAPHITE FIBERS VIA THE LOW-PRESSURE SOLID-STATE SOURCE PROCESS (LPSSS)

We describe herein a new process for the synthesis of diamond and diam ond coated graphite fibers. The method uses mixtures of colloidal carb on and carbon fibers as the carbon source with metals and diamonds as seed or catalyst materials. The mixtures are reacted in a pure hydroge n microwave-assisted plasma at 900 degrees C for 20-22 h. The pre-exis ting fibers are fully coated with diamond on the surface with a graphi te core as shown by Raman and scanning electron microscopy. In additio n, various dendritic fibrous forms of diamond not found in chemical va por deposition appear in several runs. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.