Carbon microspheres grown by using hydride vapor phase epitaxy

A carbon microsphere of a core-shell type was grown by using a new method of mixed-source hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The surface and the cross section of the carbon microsphere grown by using the new method were observed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The characteristics of the carbon microsphere were investigated by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). From these measurements, the diameters of the carbon spheres were about a few hundred micrometers. Furthermore, we showed that carbon microspheres of the core-shell type could be grown successfully by using a mixed-source HVPE method and that they had larger sizes than those grown by using existing methods. This mixed-source HVPE method is proposed as a new method for making carbon microspheres.