Synthesis of carbon nanotubes with claw-like ends at mild condition

Abstract A new morphology of carbonaceous material, nanotubes with claw-like ends, was synthesized at 200 °C, using aluminum and hexachloroethane as reactants, aluminum chloride as catalyst and benzene as solvent. The samples were characterized with X-ray diffractometor. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images reveal that the sample is tubular structure with claw-like ends. The claw-like ends are about 230 nm in length and the width of the claw-like ends is in the range of 60–80 nm. The magnified view shows that the average thickness of the nanotube wall is about 60 nm. A possible metal reduction mechanism was proposed. Due to their novel morphology, they may have applications in many fields, such as nanosweezers, and tips of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM ) or field emission device.