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Graphitic cones and the nucleation of curved carbon surfaces

Nature volume 388, pages 451–454 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The nucleation and growth of curved carbon structures, such asfullerenes, nanotubes and soot, are still not well understood. Avariety of models have been proposed1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17, and it seems clear that the occurrence of pentagons, which yield 60° disclination defects in the hexagonal graphitic network, is a key element in the puzzle. The problem of nucleation has been complicated by the great variety of structures observed in any one sample. Here we report an unusual carbon sample generated by pyrolysis of hydrocarbons, consisting entirely of graphitic microstructures with total disclinations that are multiples of +60°. The disclination of each structure corresponds to the presence of a given number of pentagons in the seed from which it grew: disks (no pentagons), five types of cones (one to five pentagons), of which only one was known previously18, and open tubes (six pentagons). Statistical analysis of these domains shows some unexpected features, which suggest that entropy plays a dominant role in the formation of disclinations. Furthermore, the total disclination of a domain is determined mainly at the nucleation stage.

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Figure 1: Transmission electron micrograph of the microstructures in the sample.
Figure 2: Examples of the five types of cones in the sample (scale bars in a–e, 200 nm): a, TD = 300°,.
Figure 3: a, Statistical distribution of the measured cone angles among the microstructures; b, averaged distribution centred at the s.
Figure 4: Example of tube formation after nucleation of a cone with a 300° disclination (scale bar, 200 nm).

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. E. Bisher for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. *NEC Research Institute, 4 Independence Way, Princeton, 08540, New Jersey, USA

    A. Krishnan, M. M. J. Treacy & T. W. Ebbesen

  2. †Laboratoire de Chimie, Collège de France, 11, place M. Berthelot, 75005, Paris, France

    E. Dujardin

  3. ‡Kvaerner Engineering a.s., 1324, Lysaker, Norway

    J. Hugdahl

  4. §ISIS, Louis Pasteur University, rue Blaise Pascal, 67000, Strasbourg, France

    S. Lynum & T. W. Ebbesen

Author notes

  1. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to T.W.E.

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    Krishnan, A., Dujardin, E., Treacy, M. et al. Graphitic cones and the nucleation of curved carbon surfaces. Nature 388, 451–454 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/41284

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