Synthesis and characterization of carbon fibrils formed by stacking graphite sheets of nanometer thickness

Carbon fibrils with length of 2-3 mu m formed by stacking graphite sheets of similar to 10-40 nm in thickness along the < 001 > direction were prepared by pyrolysis of tetrahydrofuran at 600 degrees C in the existence of metallic nickel. The spacing of adjacent sheets concentrated on similar to 3.8 nm and similar to 50 nm. Metallic nickel played a catalytic role in the formation of carbon fibrils, and a possible formation process was proposed. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.