Vapor-Dissociation-Solid Growth of Three-Dimensional Graphite-like Capsules with Delicate Morphology and Atomic-level Thickness Control

Authors

Xian Jian, University of Wollongong
Guozhang Chen, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Hongyang Liu, Chinese Academy Of Sciences
Nasir Mahmood, University of WollongongFollow
Shibu Zhu, Xi'an Aerospace Composites Research Institute
Liangjun Yin, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Hui Tang, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Weiqiang Lv, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Weidong He, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Kelvin H. L Zhang, University of Cambridge
Qun Zeng, China Academy of Engineering Physics
Baihai Li, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Xuesong Li, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Wanli Zhang, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Xiaolin Wang, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

114474

Publication Details

Jian, X., Chen, G., Liu, H., Mahmood, N., Zhu, S., Yin, L., Tang, H., Lv, W., He, W., Zhang, K., Zeng, Q., Li, B., Li, X., Zhang, W. & Wang, X. (2016). Vapor-Dissociation-Solid Growth of Three-Dimensional Graphite-like Capsules with Delicate Morphology and Atomic-level Thickness Control. Crystal Growth and Design, 16 (9), 5040-5048.

Abstract

Two-dimensional graphene is easy to aggregate and hard to transfer because of the van der Waals forces between graphene layers. The three-dimensional (3D) graphite-like capsules (GCs) disperse well and exhibit robust structural stability and have a potential for promising applications in energy storage, drug delivery, catalyst substrate, etc. Here, we develop a catalytic chemical vapor deposition route for the synthesis of 3D GCs with unprecedented thickness and morphology control. The theoretical results indicate that the strong chemisorption and charge transfer between ZnO and acetylene allow the layer-by-layer formation of GCs that is later confirmed by the experimental data. The 3D GCs are synthesized with thickness control from three atomic layers to ∼300 atomic layers over various oxides with predesigned shapes of microscale tetrapods, nanospheres, nanorods, nanocubes, etc. In particular, the formation mechanism of GCs is investigated using the ZnO surface as a catalyst through systematically experimental approaches. In addition to the high-quality of 3D GCs, this approach provides an unprecedented facile methodological control of coating/functionalizing carbon over various oxides including ZnO, TiO2, SnO2, BaFe12O19, etc.