Fast and efficient combustion synthesis route to produce novel nanocarbons

We report the preliminary results on simple one-step chemical synthesis of exfoliated graphite and other carbon-related nanostructures via a novel combustion synthesis route. We found previously that different solid carbonates could be decomposed to elements upon reducing in solid phase by using a strong reducers and the produced carbon vapors instantly condense towards 1-D nanocarbons. Here such combustion processing is extended towards the direct heterogeneous, efficient, and autothermic high-pressure reduction of gaseous carbon oxides (CO2 and CO) to elements using the following reducers: Li, Mg, Ca, B, Ti, Zr, and Al. The solid products (layered graphite and nanocarbides) were chemically purified and characterized using XRD, SEM, and Raman spectroscopy. [GRAPHICS] . (C) 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim