Characteristics and Microstructure of Graphite Encapsulated Iron Nanoparticles

The graphite encapsulated α-Fe particles were prepared by reduction of stage-2 and stage-3 FeCl3 graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) with metallic potassium. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) investigation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation show that the reduction products of stage-2 FeCl3-GICs contains more abundant α-Fe nanoparticles than those of stage-3. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) observation reveals that the nanoparticle of α-Fe was polycrystals or twins, which was real or quasi two-dimension in shape, and whose space orientation was strictly controlled by the graphene. Based on the experiment results, a possible growth model of the graphite encapsulated α-Fe was proposed.