SINGLE-WALLED NANOTUBES BY THE PYROLYSIS OF ACETYLENE-ORGANOMETALLIC MIXTURES

Gas-phase pyrolysis of acetylene along with a metallocene or with a bi nary mixture of metallocenes in flowing Ar or Ar + H-2 at 1100 degrees C yields single-walled carbon nanotubes. Pyrolysis of Fe(CO)(5)-acety lene mixtures in Ar at 1100 degrees C also gives single-walled nanotub es. The diameter of the nanotubes is generally around 1 nm, showing th ereby that on pyrolysis under the dilute conditions employed, the orga nometallic precursors give rise to very fine metal particles essential for the formation of such nanotubes. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.