A novel form of carbon micro-balls from coal Original Research Article

A novel form of ball-like carbon material with its size in micrometer range was prepared from coal with nickel as catalyst by arc plasma method. The carbon material has been systematically studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet laser Raman spectroscopy. The SEM observation shows that the novel carbon material exists in various forms such as individual balls, net-like and plate-like forms, all of which have a quite smooth surface. The diameters of these carbon spheres are quite uniform and in a narrow range of 10–20 μm. The EDS analysis reveals that the ball-like carbon material contains more than 99.5% of carbon and a little amount of other elements such as nickel, silicon and aluminum. The XRD and UV–Raman results reveal that the novel carbon material is a kind of highly graphitized carbon. The growth mechanism of the ball-like carbon material was proposed and discussed in terms of arc plasma parameters and the chemical structure of coal-based carbon.