Graphite Polyhedral Crystals
Yury Gogotsi,1*
Joseph A. Libera,1
Nikolay Kalashnikov,1
Masahiro Yoshimura2
Polyhedral nano- and microstructures with shapes of faceted
needles, rods, rings, barrels, and double-tipped pyramids, which we
call graphite polyhedral crystals (GPCs), have been discovered. They
were found in pores of glassy carbon. They have nanotube cores and
graphite faces, and they can exhibit unusual sevenfold, ninefold, or
more complex axial symmetry. Although some are giant radially extended
nanotubes, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy
suggest GPCs have a degree of perfection higher than in multiwall
nanotubes of similar size. The crystals are up to 1 micrometer in cross
section and 5 micrometers in length, and they can probably be grown in
much larger sizes. Preliminary results suggest a high electrical
conductivity, strength, and chemical stability of GPC.
1 University of Illinois at Chicago, Department
of Mechanical Engineering, Chicago, IL 60607, USA.
2 Tokyo Institute of Technology, Materials and
Structures Laboratory, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226, Japan.
*
To whom correspondence should be sent: gogotsi{at}drexel.edu
