Surface treatments of vapor-grown carbon fibers produced on a substrate - Part II: Atomic force microscopy

Vapor-grown carbon fibers (VGCF) were produced from a methane-hydrogen mixt ure on a substrate seeded with an iron catalyst. The fibers thus produced w ere submitted to different oxidative treatments: nitric acid, oxygen plasma and partial gasification with air or carbon dioxide. These fibers have bee n previously characterised by X-ray diffraction, SEM, nitrogen adsorption, XPS and ToF-SIMS. In the present paper we report on the examination of thei r surface nano-topography by atomic force microscopy (AFM). (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.