Controllable synthesis and formation mechanism of carbon micro/nano-structural materials

Three different structures of carbon materials, including carbon spheres, bamboo-like carbon nanotubes and straight carbon nanotubes, were obtained by pyrolysis of iron(II) phthalocyanine with different flow rates of H2 at 1000 °C. The suitable mechanism for formation process of the carbon nanomaterials from spheres to straight nanotubes was suggested. The competing processes between the catalyst forward and the shell growth have been used to explain the formation mechanism of three materials. The controllable synthesis of carbon materials was achieved only by changing the H2 flow rates, and it is important to explore applications of carbon materials with different shapes.